Viceroy
by QAI521
Summary: When Taylor Hebert got powers she gained the ability to become a hero. Now if only her minions would stop telling her to murder all her enemies.
1. Prologue: Hatching

"No one knows where the Visorak came from or why. Those few who have mastered their language claim that Visorak means 'stealers of life' and others say it means 'poisonous scourge.' Either way, no truer words have been spoken. Fear them, for they are a plague upon the land, leaving nothing but pain and fear behind them. " — Toa Hordika Whenua, Challenge of the Hordika

 **In which Taylor gets the power to control a very different kind of arachnid**

 **Enjoy!**

Prologue: Hatching

Winslow was the poster child for a school that had given up on trying. Graffiti that the janitor didn't bother cleaning up was plastered across the wall of virtually every hallway. Almost as if it was a monument of the decay of the school. Broken lockers were never fixed, merely duct taped over to keep their doors from striking students. Only about half the toilets worked at any given time, and the sinks were just as bad.

Approximately ninety percent of the teacher didn't even bother trying, content to pretend that their students were actually learning so long as they were paid. Those that did try didn't realize that they were utterly failing as educators, or simply believed that they would be the ones to change the school.

Outlooks like that didn't last too long.

It was a school that had given up on the safety of the entire student body and instead focused its efforts on the select few that could bring in some benefits. The students that didn't realize this were either too stupid or drugged up to care, while those that did fell into two groups. Those that were expendable, and those that weren't.

Emma Barnes fell into that second group.

The fact that her father was a rather successful divorce lawyer and her mother worked for one of the local news stations would have been enough to put her with that group, even without her association with Sophia Hess. So long as she was friends with the Ward, no faculty member in the school would go against her testimony. She and the rest of her friend quite literally had the run of the student body.

A fact that she mercilessly exploited with her torment of her former best friend.

The redhead had to hold back a yawn as she made her way through the relatively deserted hallways of the school. It was so early in the morning that only the people with no place better to be were roaming the halls in an early morning daze. The threat of classes was still hours away, so they were using the time to do things they wouldn't be able to do at home. They shouldn't have been doing them in the school either, but nobody in the faculty was going to try and stop them.

Frankly, she thought they were all insane for getting up this early every single day. She couldn't even begin trying to do this on a regular basis. Even with her cup of coffee, she was still stuck with bags under her eyes and a sluggishness that made everything seem like a chore. The mere act of walking took all of her concentration to continue as she held back another massive yawn.

She knew that Sophia had to get up this early every day for morning track practice, but that didn't make it any less insane. How her friend managed to do that and go on nightly patrols was completely beyond her understanding. She was tempted to go get Sophia so that she could bear witness to the culmination of their work, but she doubted she would appreciate being dragged away from the field. Track was one of the few things that Sophia actually enjoyed doing of her own provocation since it was a chance to show off how strong she was physically.

No, best to leave Sophia be for the time be. She could take a picture or a video with her phone for posterity's sake. That way they would be able to watch Taylor's reaction over and over again. Maybe even post in on the internet if it was funny enough.

 _This will all be worth it,_ she told herself as she squeezed by a group of chatting nerds. Today would be the day that she would be able to witness the culmination of her work. If that meant that she had to get up far earlier than any human ought to, then that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Emma couldn't hold back a smirk as she made her way to the school's boiler room. She could only begin to imagine how desperate Taylor had to be after being trapped inside for the weekend.

While her original plan had been to lock her inside her own locker with trash Sophia had been the one to point out how difficult that would be. Trying to squeeze inside one of the lockers would be hard enough, trying to force someone inside while they were struggling would be even harder. Even if that person was Taylor, it was likely she would be able to escape, or worse they would get caught in the act. While the school was incredibly lenient if they were seen trying to restrain Taylor even they would have to take action.

No, locking in her the boiler room was a far better plan. With the janitor in the hospital, nobody would bother checking the place unless the heater broke. They could keep Taylor locked inside as long as they wanted to. The brunette had struggled as they shoved her inside and nearly tore her fingernails off as she tried to keep a grip on the doorframe, but they succeeded. With the door locked from the outside, there was no way that Taylor would be able to escape from her imprisonment, no matter how hard she tried to knock down the door.

The part of her that had been a sister to Taylor in all but blood still screamed in protest, but Emma had long since learned to block out that pesky little voice. She was strong, Taylor wasn't. That was just the way the world worked. The strong picked on the weak and ground them into the dirt. It was the only way to get ahead in the world, and she wasn't going to let herself be weak ever again.

Emma hummed as she made her way down the dimly lit stairs to the boiler room. A single almost burned out light bulb was the only thing keeping the hallway from plunging into pure darkness. The redhead girl pulled the key off its hook in preparation to open it and see how Taylor was doing, but she couldn't help but throw in some teasing.

"Hello," Emma called out in a mocking voice as she tapped her fist on the door. The entire door shook in its hinges as her knocking echoed down the hallway. "How are you doing in there Taylor? Having fun?"

She wished that she could see through the door to watch as Taylor's face crumble under her words. That look of utter helplessness as she was stamped back into the ground was always a welcome sight to the teen.

"Emma! Help!"

Emma froze at the sound of Sophia's voice worming its way through the sealed door. What was she doing in there? Had she come even earlier than she had to check on Hebert and phased her way through the door. She wouldn't have thought that Sophia would have risked her identity in such a public place like this, but if she had wanted to verify Taylor's condition she might have risked it.

"She's going to kill me!"

Emma swallowed nervously. The thought of weak Taylor killing Sophia was almost too ridiculous to consider. Sophia was _Shadow Stalker_ , a hero that had taken down dozens of fully grown men and parahumans. How on earth was a weakling of a classmate supposed to hurt her?

 _What if she got powers?_

Emma had looked into parahumans powers a lot after her meeting with Sophia. While there wasn't much about getting them, she had been able to piece together from what little there was and Sophia's own testimony that receiving powers wasn't exactly pleasant. It was only when someone reached the breaking point and survived that they could get powers. She had been a bit disappointed that she hadn't gotten any powers out of the…alleyway, but she knew that she hadn't been strong enough at the time. She knew that when another similar event occurred she would be ready, but it still grated that she didn't get any powers then.

Could Taylor have gone through that though? Could she have reached her breaking point down in the darkness of the boiler room and refused to break?

The thought was ridiculous, but that was the only conceivable way that she could possible harm Sophia. The only way that she could become a threat to the dark-skinned girl was if she had somehow gotten powers during the weekend.

"EMMA!"

The pained scream made the redhead nearly jump out of her skin as she scrambled to put the key in the lock. The small piece of metal slipped across her sweaty fingers like butter as she struggled to get a good grip on it. She could hear the muttering whispers of other students as came to investigate Sophia's screams.

"I'm coming Sophia," Emma screamed as she fumbled with the keyhole. She could feel the panic welling in her chest as her friend's screams echoed through the hallway. A cold sweat broke out along her forehead at the thought of whatever Taylor was doing to her that could cause such a strong person to react like that.

As she twisted the key in the keyhole she could hear snap as the bolt slid back into the door. With a grunt, she pulled on the door's aged handle as its rusted hinges groaned in protest. Emma wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she had to help Sophia. Sophia had helped her when she had been lying down in the filth and muck and reforged her into someone strong. Someone who wouldn't be dragged back down into the weakness and bile of the city.

As the door swung open Emma was greeted with an inky darkness. She fumbled for the light switch for a few precious seconds before her hand finally found the switch and flicked them on.

She immediately wished that she hadn't.

The…creature that stood on the other side of the door only reached her waist, but it was no less terrifying. Its black carapace gleamed in the dim lighting even as its yellow eye glinted with hunger. Emma let out a whimper as fangs longer than her arms clicked together menacingly. Green fluids dripped out of its mouth as literal buzz saws blurred against each other. Four sinuous legs as long as her torso erupted from the creature's body, each one topped with a talon that looked as if it could cut through bone. She could see some sort of indent on the monster's back, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what it might do.

She wasn't sure she wanted to either.

The sound of chittering tore the terrified redhead's gaze away from the creature and into the darkness behind it. While she couldn't see more than a few feet, she was able to catch sight of even more monstrous creatures, each different than the next.

Emma wanted to run, she _needed_ to run, but her legs were frozen in place. Her stomach felt like it was doing barrel rolls as a cold sweat broke out across her pale skin. She could feel her chest rise up and down in short panicked breaths as she started to lose control of her breathing. It was the alleyway all over again, only this time the monsters were real.

 _Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillme_

"Thank you for saving me, Emma. It was so kind of you to open the door," the creature said with a sharp glint in its cold yellow eyes.

Emma let out a bloodcurdling scream at the sound of her friend's voice coming from the monster in front of her. The shock was enough to break her out of her frozen state. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she made a break for the hallway. There was no way that Taylor would attack her in public, especially not in school. That was the kind of behavior that got parahumans killed, and Taylor was too weak to go through with something like that.

But even as her legs pounded against the stairs the hallways seemed so much further away than it had before. Each step felt like an eternity was adrenaline coursed through her veins. Behind her, she would hear the whirring as…something charged up. She was tempted to look back, but the thought of behind forced to face that monster again scattered any thought of that.

She made it about halfway up the stairs and caught a glimpse of a handful of faces looking down the stairwell with curious expressions when the noise stopped. It was then replaced by the rushing of air as something _fast_ flew over the gap between her and it. Emma felt something strike her back, but instead of a sharp pain like she might have expected, the point of impact felt numb.

Then she realized that everything felt numb. Her toned legs that she had used in so many modeling jobs turned to jelly underneath her. Like a marionette with cut strings, she fell forward towards the cold, unforgiving ground. She tried to brace herself with her hands, but they too refused to work, flopping limply by her sides like spaghetti. There was a crack as her face struck the steps, but she didn't feel anything. She tried to move, to crawl away to safety and away from the beast that she could hear clicking up the stairs, but she was as helpless as a fish out of water.

She could hear the screams of her classmates as more of the creatures scurried around the walls, making their way to the panicked students. But Emma could care less about them. She couldn't really feel her body being dragged across the ground, but she could watch as her face slid over every step as she was pulled into the very darkness she had abandoned Taylor to.

 _Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillme_

Emma was rolled to the side, her body still paralyzed from her toes to her forehead. While she couldn't feel her body, she was more than willing to believe that it was covered in goosebumps at the moment. Taylor's long hair was even rattier than it usually was and her thin lips were cracked and caked in dead skin. Her clothes look absolutely filthy after being worn for three days in what amount to a dump. She should have looked pathetic compared to her own stunning beauty.

But right now, she looked like nothing less than the Devil himself.

"I'd say that this wasn't for my pleasure, but that wouldn't be entirely true," she said, her voice soft and worn. She sounded as if she had swallowed a strip of sandpaper or two. Emma tried to say something, to plead or beg for mercy, but her lips still refused to obey her commands. All she could do was stare up at her former best friend with a wide-eyed look of terror.

 _Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillme_

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," she said, apparently understanding Emma's rather justified fear. The redhead couldn't help but feel a sense of relief pass through her at the thought of being able to live, but the part of her that she would have rathered ignored reminded her that some fates were worse than death.

"I'm not going to stoop down to your level, but you're not getting off scot free this time Emma," the brunette said so caustically that Emma wouldn't have been surprised if the floor melted beneath her feet. Emma could see the ceiling shift above her as she was dragged even deeper into the boiler room.

 _Don't worry, Sophia will save you,_ she thought to herself as she tried to calm her nerves. As she was dragged back into a deep corner of the room that was covered in what looked like spider webbing from an arachnophobe's worst nightmares she kept telling herself that.

Maybe if she repeated it enough she would start to believe herself.

* * *

 **Trying to be a hero can be a bit difficult while your minions are baying for the blood of the enemies of their Queen.**

 **In case you've haven't already read it, go read** BarelyPresent's **Worm/Bionicle fanfic The Masks We Wear.**

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	2. Prey

**Enjoy!**

Prey

Sophia Hess scowled as she shoved her way past her fellow runners. There was some grumbling from her fellows, but none of them were going to demand one of their best runners to stop. The fact that she could probably beat them all into a pulp certainly didn't help either. That still didn't stop a few dark looks from being directed towards her. But Sophia didn't care about what any of them thought of her, all she could do was stew in her own anger as she made her way to the girl's locker room.

 _How is it my fault the idiot wasn't paying attention?_ Sophia thought as she tore her clothes off with a little more force than necessary. The fact that Ralph hadn't been paying attention and had twisted his ankle when he struck her shouldn't have been her problem. He was the one that needed to pay attention to where he was running.

But coach Lewis didn't have any of it, reprimanding both of them for not having better situational awareness. Sophia sneered as she fastened her belt around her waist. _She_ was the one with poor situational awareness? She fought villains and muggers in three-dimensional combat all the time. She was the one who actually paid attention for criminal scum on patrol, unlike the other Wards who smiled and waved for the cameras like the PR mooks that they were.

 _Idiot,_ Sophia thought scornfully as she caught sight of the pudgy coach making his way to his dinky little office. The man probably couldn't even complete the exercises he gave to them, who was he judge her? While she certainly enjoyed track and field, sometimes she wondered if it was worth dealing with all the idiots.

 _Hmm, maybe checking on Hebert would help,_ Sophia considered with a smirk. Seeing the weakling put back in her place again would certainly brighten up her day. She hoped that Emma hadn't followed through with her claim that she would come early to check the boiler room herself. Sophia wanted to be there to witness firsthand the expression of terror on Hebert's face after having been locked away for the weekend.

It was then that Sophia heard the screaming.

It was a small thing at first, unimportant to the Ward. People screamed in Winslow all the time, and if she wasted her time checking them all out then she would never have any free time for herself.

But as she made her way towards the boiler room the screaming intensified, and the mingling mass of people started to push and shove away from the source of the terror. Sophia couldn't see past the small throng of students, but whatever it was it was enough to make some of the wannabe gangsters to turn tail and run.

 _Okay, maybe there's a problem,_ Sophia admitted to herself as she ducked into an empty classroom as she considered her options. Protocol dictated that she call the disturbance in before she went to investigate, but she didn't want to waste time if it turned out to be an idiot who cut himself with a switchblade he stole. No, she would check first, then call it into whatever fool was on console duty.

Unfortunately, her spare costume was tucked away in a cavity behind her locker. Which was on the other side of the school. If she went to go get it then she could waste valuable time if this did turn out to be a serious threat. Her best choice right now would be to pretend she had been in the classroom the entire time and had just heard the screams of terror. She could get a good look at whatever was scaring everyone now that the hallway was clear. Plan firmly set in her head, Sophia moved to open the door and pretend like she was running away in terror. It was grating somewhat that she had to pretend to be weak, but she couldn't risk someone finding out her identity. As she swung the door open she took a good long look down the hallway.

…and promptly froze at the sight of what had been scaring the students.

Several creatures that might have been politely called spiders if they were about a thousandth of their current size were scurrying along the halls like something out a horror movie. Fangs that could have cleaved her in two clicked together as they examined the hallway, occasionally snapping at the still fleeing students. Sophia swallowed as another monster climbed its way out of the hallway that led to the boiler room.

 _Oh, crap!_

She didn't think that Hebert would be pathetic enough to trigger just from being locked inside the room for the weekend, but she had proven herself to be weak time and time again. Honestly, crying over a flute? How pathetic could she be? It almost made her want to laugh.

But her taunts collapsed in her throat as the creatures turned the entirety of their focus to her. The teen felt a chill sweep up her spine as she locked gazes with one of the creatures. Those were the eyes of a predator, a vicious killer who wouldn't hesitate to rip her to shreds with those insanely sharp fangs of theirs. She could feel her desire to fight start to melt away under the heat of those glares. And for the first time in a long time, instead of trying to fight, Sophia Hess chose to run away.

She could feel her legs pounding against the tile floor as she made a dash for the crowd of fleeing students. Her skills in track proved their worth as she crossed about half the distance in a few seconds. But even as she neared the group she could hear the monster behind her giving chase as their clawed feet clattered against the floor. A whirring noise filled the air and Sophia looked back just in time to see the red one shoot something out of its back.

Sophia dove to the side as the disk-like projectile shot past her and slammed into one of the jocks. Green energy crackled along the athlete's form as he literally froze in place and collapsed to the floor like a mannequin. The screaming intensified as the students dispersed down different hallways, none of them eager to end up as their classmate had. Within seconds the hallway as almost completely clear of students, save for the paralyzed athlete and the now exposed Sophia.

Sophia felt her heart slam against her ribcage as she scrambled back up to her feet. She could hear the whirring of another one of those projectiles charging up behind her, and she had no interest in experiencing the effects for herself. One of the creatures fired the disk on a trajectory straight towards her as she activated her powers and ghosted towards a nearby classroom. It was a risk using her powers in her civilian identity, but the risk of being captured by the monsters was too great to ignore. Her incorporeal form pushed its way through the classroom's door as if it wasn't even there. As she retook her physical form she knew that the door wouldn't hold them off for long.

She quickly rounded on the door and shoved a desk in front of it. She doubted it would hold against them, but it might provide her with some more time to figure out what exactly she was going to do. She could just ghost through the wall and run out to the street, but the thought of fleeing rankled her. She wasn't some weak-willed coward who ran away at the first sign of trouble, and she wouldn't be cowed by a group of oversized bugs. Even if she didn't have her crossbow or bolts she could still be strong, she just needed to be creative.

The Ward flinched as something slammed against the door, eliciting a series of cracks as the wood gave way under its weight. Splinters clattered against the floor as the creatures started to rip apart the only obstacle between them and their prey. She could hear their excited chittering as their fangs tore through the structure with little effort, though fortunately, it would take them some time to get the hole big enough for them to fit through.

But being strong didn't mean being stupid. Sophia knew when she needed help, and as much as she hated to admit it, she needed help right now. She had no effective weapons and no idea what one of these things could do. She fumbled pulling her cell phone out from her jeans, the device catching on the fabric as the most inopportune of times. This call would have been easier to make with her PRT issues cell phone, but that was back with all her other equipment on the other side of the school. It wasn't too big of a problem, the PRT understood that the Ward's couldn't carry that phone around all the time and instead gave them a number that could patch them from any phone to the monitor on duty.

A quick flip and pressing of one gave her a direct connection to the console. Sophia didn't even give the person on the other end of the line time to respond when she started shouting into the phone. "Delta Five Zulu Seven Alpha. There's a parahuman attack occurring at Winslow High, requesting immediate backup," Sophia said as she searched for something to defend herself with as more of the door splintered. Now she could actually see the creature's cold eyes as the glared at her through the hole they had punched in the door. It would only take them a minute more to tear apart enough to squeeze their forms through, maybe another minute of they wanted to make it easier on themselves.

"Understood, backup is being dispatched," the voice on the other end replied, not a single quaver of fear entering her tone. "Are you in immediate danger?"

"Yes," Sophia bit out, reluctant to admit that she couldn't beat them by herself, but at the same time not willing to refuse assistance. As she rifled through the teacher's desk she hit the jackpot. A knife that had been confiscated but never taken away to the security station on the campus. Sophia tested the weight of the knife in her free hand. It was far too heavy to throw with any accuracy, so she was going to have to stick to melee combat. An image of one of those fangs slicing through her neck flashed through her mind, and she couldn't hold back a shiver at the thought.

Close combat wasn't exactly her preferred choice, but it was the only thing she had to defend herself. The operator on the other end of the line said something, but Sophia didn't hear anything over the hissing sound that filled the room. The young teen looked over to see that a green substance was eating away at the door like paper in a fire. Wood blackened and crumbled into dust as the substance ate away at its structure. Even the wall wasn't safe as a few stray droplets burned holes in the plaster.

What little remained of the door shattered as a green colored monster shoved its way through the broken splinters. Sophia didn't even give it time to shake the debris off as she desperately charged the creature. Fortunately for her, the monster seemed just as surprised by this turn of events as she was. In the back of her head, she supposed a teen charging a spider that looked like something out of a horror movie wasn't exactly usual. As she closed in on the beast she used her power to turn the blade of the knife intangible so it could circumvent any armor the creature might have.

The spider let out an ear-piercing shriek as the blade embedded itself in one of its red eyes. The mist that made up its form in the split second that it was immune to physical objects reformed as a solid structure. Flesh mixed with steel as both the eye and blade tried to occupy the same spot at the same time. Fluids squirted out of the creature's eye and drenched Sophia's outstretched hand as it reeled in pain, thrashing about like a floundering fish.

Sophia tried to keep a grip on the knife, but the slippery fluids and the creature's tugging made it slip through her fingers like water. The Ward cursed as she was forced to jump back while the monster struck out widely in its daze of pain. It screamed and screeched and dragged its eye along the floor in an effort to rip the knife out of its position. She just barely managed to keep her neck from being torn in two when another of its brethren climbed over its body, fangs glinting in the school's lighting. It's brown carapace looked dull compared to its companion's dark green, but its blue eyes shined with equal intensity. The strange indent on its back was already whirring up when it got into position. Sophia barely had time so shift to her shadow state as the brown projectile flew towards her over the short distance.

She was prepared to have it pass through her unmolested and strike the wall behind her. She had performed the same move a hundred times before without fail and was ready for hundred and one. Her smoky form hung over the ground as the crackling projectile struck her form and discharged the energy impeded within it. She was not prepared for when she felt a shock pass through her as she collapsed back on the ground in her human form. The Ward felt a brief surge of panic as she tried to reach out for her power only for nothing to come. She might as well have been trying to stop the rotation of the Sun with her bare hands for all the good it did her.

The young teen looked up just in time to see the spider lunge for her with a madden glint in its eye. She didn't even have a second to figure out what was going on before she was slammed against the ground. Her hands reflexively shot out to catch the monster's fangs as they closed in on her.

"AUG!" Sophia screamed as the sharp structures dug into her flesh. She could feel the warm blood trickle down her arms as she tried to keep the razor-sharp fangs away from her throat. Her hands felt as if they were wreathed in flames as her nerves protested their treatment. Green spittle, or at least what she hoped was spittle, drenched her form as the monster's teeth spun like a demented buzz saw.

"Get off!" Sophia screamed as she kicked her legs up while pulling the monster as far forward as she could. The creature squealed in surprise as it was suddenly thrown forward by her shifting weight. She grunted as she felt one of her muscles tear for the overexertion, but she managed to succeed and remove the creature from her form. The creature's legs failed in the air impotently as it struggled to right itself. Sophia might have laughed at the monster's struggles if she had the time.

"SCREE!"

Sophia felt her stomach drop as she turned to face the door. Another monster stood in the doorway, this one a fiery red with blazing green eyes. Bumps covered the creature's carapace unlike its smoother shelled companions, but it looked no less terrifying. This time Sophia didn't even have a chance to move out of the way as the creature's missile struck her. She had been prepared to be paralyzed and helpless before the beast, but even that would have been preferable to what she experienced now.

Pain. All she knew was pain.

Every inch of her skin was burning as if it had been draped in an inferno. Sophia twisted on the floor in a desperate attempt to stem the tide of suffering that washed over her, but nothing came of it. In her deliriousness, she clawed at her skin, ripping and tearing away flesh for the slightest chance to end the agony that had consumed her.

It was beyond anything that she had ever experienced before, even beyond that time she had gotten her legs crushed by an angry Hookwolf. Her skin was sandpaper being ground against steel, her blood was acid gushing through her veins. Every breath she took was a spike to the chest, every thought was an electrified wire through her brain. All she knew was pain.

Maybe that was all she ever knew.

The iron will that Sophia had forged for herself shattered under her torment. The cape was so focused on abating her pain that she didn't even notice as she was dragged out of the room by her tormenter. Crimson fluids dripped onto the floor as the creature towed her with all the concern that a hawk might have for a rabbit. Its fangs dug into her fleshy leg and dragged her across the floor like a carcass. A piece of meat whose heart hadn't quite stopped beating.

Sophia might have fought back if she had the mental focus to do so. She would have kicked and screamed and made the spider fight for every inch, but to her, they might have as well been a million miles away. The blaring alarms and the screaming students were nothing more than a distant mirage that she couldn't focus on. All that she could feel, all that she could experience, all that she could know was her agony. Her nerve endings screamed in protest at their inhuman treatment, sending signals to the brain to tell it to stop doing whatever it was doing to cause them so much pain.

As she was pulled down the stair the pain abated, if only a minute fraction, but to Sophia, it felt like the greatest thing she had ever known. Like a drowning man who got a hint of fresh air, it was a welcome relief to her unending agony. If only for the moment she could focus on something other than the inferno that had consumed her body. With a tremendous amount of effort, Sophia managed to twist her eyes and take a good look at her surroundings.

The lighting barely provided enough illumination to see more than a few feet in any direction, at least until her eyes adjusted to the darkness anyway. She tried to twist her neck to get a better look, but a flash of white hot agony dissuaded that attempt. The sound of chittering filled the room and Sophia felt a chill travel down her still burning spine at the sight of even more glowing eyes that filled each corner of the room. There was a ferocity and savageness in those eyes, and the young teen couldn't help but feel as if she was staring down a hungry wolf.

The sound of footsteps broke through the chittering as a pair of ratty sneakers filled her vision. Sophia didn't have to look up to know who they belonged to. Even as she tried to convince herself that Hebert was too weak to do anything that voice was drowned out by the pain wracking her body.

"He tells me you have powers. He said you phased through the wall in a black cloud… I suppose that makes you Shadow Stalker, doesn't it?" Hebert asked, her voice raspy and weak. But beneath that weak tone, there was a hint of steel, an unbreakable will that Sophia hadn't cracked. She couldn't hold back a hiss of pain as Hebert's shoe pressed up against her cheek, twisting her head so that she could see her fully. Hebert's hair looked even worse than usual, clinging in clumps and frayed ends that framed her purposely blank face. Sophia had often mocked Hebert over her glasses, but right now they revealed a pair of icy looking eyes with a level of calculation to them that made Sophia feel the slightest trace of regret for what she did to Hebert.

She might have denied Hebert's allegations of her being Shadow Stalker is she could move her lips without making them fell as if they had been shoved into a furnace. Not that it matter much though, there was no real way that she could hide her identity, not after revealing her powers in front of Hebert's minions.

"I suppose this explains why you've been able to get away with everything up until now," Hebert said, not so much with a sigh, but a feel of resignation that coated her words like a shell. The girl seemed to consider something before saying, "You know, I used to daydream about going to them. The intrepid heroes coming to save the bullied girl."

Hebert let out a detached chuckle that made Sophia desperately wish that she was anywhere but here right now. But even as those thoughts of escape filled her mind she could feel a slight tingling sensation as the pain started to fade away. It was slow, but it was there. If she could keep Taylor talking for a few more minutes she might be able to turn this around. She doubted her little minions would dare attack her while she held their master hostage.

"A pipe dream even before…this," Taylor said with a shrug as she gestured to Sophia. "But it gave me some semblance of hope that I would be able to stop the bullying eventually. Not much, but it helped me get through your tormenting."

 _Just shut up,_ Sophia thought as she listened to Hebert drone on. She didn't care what the weakling thought, all she cared about was beating her into a bloody pulp the second she got the chance. A twitch of her fingers that didn't send her spiraling back into the abyss of pain signaled that the effect of the projectile was starting to wear off.

"Though I suppose it makes sense," Hebert said as she gave the downed parahuman a cold look. Sophia felt rage blossoming in her chest at the dismissive gaze of the freshly triggered parahuman as if she somehow thought that Sophia was beneath her. "Cowards like you don't attack without assurances for their safety. In the end, all your bullying just shows how weak and pathetic you are."

Sophia howled as she threw herself at the weakling. She could still feel her entire body stinging in pain as she tackled the surprised Hebert, but she didn't care. All she cared about was beating Hebert's face in and teaching her that she wasn't a coward. It was satisfying to feel Hebert's ugly mug underneath her fist as she landed blow after blow in a howling rage.

Her hands wrapped around the girl's throat as she squeezed. It was so satisfying to watch the expression of pure panic morph on the girl's face as she prepared to choke the air out of her. She could feel rivets of blood trickle down her arms as Hebert clawed for her freedom, but she didn't care. All she cared about was wringing Hebert's scrawny neck. If she worded this right in her report Piggy might even give her a medal for ending this waste of human space. Blood from her hand wounds drenched the girl's neck, giving it a slippery texture as Sophia squeezed even harder, forcing the oxygen out of Hebert's body.

"You thought being shoved here was bad? I'll show you what real suffering is," Sophia hissed through her clenched teeth.

But she so focused on her attempted murder of Hebert that the Ward didn't notice another spider slam into her side. She was sent tumbling off Hebert as she struggled to regain her balance. She gasped and sputtered as her lungs were drained of air, and she was certain that she had felt one of her ribs crack under the force of the impact. Sophia looked up just in time to get another face full of whatever projectile the spiders were shooting at her. She braced herself for another round of agony, but this time she felt nothing.

Sophia peaked an eye open cautiously as if the lack of pain was a cruel trick on Hebert's part. But instead, the truth was far worse. Sophia felt her arms fall limply to her sides at the sight of electricity crisscrossing in arcs that formed a sphere around her. A cage made of the one thing that she couldn't pass through.

"I knew you were stupid," Taylor wheezed out as she rubbed her now bruised and blood soaked throat. "But I didn't expect you to be _that_ stupid."

Sophia growled as she threw herself at her cage like a mad beast in the slimmest hope that she could break free. Instead, she was sent howling back the ground as she clutched her smoking arm. Even as she rubbed her fresh wound the electrical cage shrunk, closing in on her. Sophia's eyes darted around the cage, looking for any chance of escape. She wasn't sure if her power was back or not, but it wasn't as if it could help her against this. And from the way the cage seemed to vanish into the ground, it probably didn't stop there either. There was no way for her to get out of this cage short of subjecting herself to electrocution, which would surely kill her.

"You're only proving my point," Taylor said as she approached the cage. The white spider that had imprisoned her so almost seemed to fuss over her as if she was a child who had scrapped her knee. Hebert seemed to wave the monster's concern off, keeping her intense eyes focused on Sophia. Said Ward tried not to squirm under the sheer intensity of Hebert's gaze, curling her lips into a sneer to hide her nervousness.

"The Protectorate is going to nail you to the wall," Sophia hissed through her clenched teeth. If she couldn't escape herself, then perhaps she could get Hebert to free her. The girl was a weakling at heart if she insinuated that the Protectorate would come down on her and lock her away she would fold like a deck of cards.

But instead of caving into her threats like she had expected as that was what Hebert had always done, the girl seemed completely unconcerned with the possibility of being brought down by the Protectorate.

"I'm sure once I reveal to the public what you've been doing they'll change their tune," Taylor said with a shrug of her shoulders as she waved off the white monster's concern. Sophia let out a mocking laugh at Hebert's statement as she tried to hide her growing dread at the complete lack of fear that Hebert possessed.

"You think that the public is going to believe the word of a loser like you?" Sophia asked as she tried to stand. Unfortunately, her legs still hadn't recovered from the shock and she fell back to the ground. Worse, the field was slowly shrinking, compressing itself and her. Soon there wouldn't be any room for her to move. But Sophia didn't care about that, all she cared about was wiping that victorious smirk off Hebert's face.

"Get real," she said with a snort. "The school knows not to cross me, and you don't have any friends. All I have to say is that a lonely loser triggered and decided to attack the school. They'll throw you in the Birdcage so fast you would have thought your head was spinning. I don't lose."

But instead of having Hebert's infuriating smirk collapse in on itself, it only grew wider. "What are you so happy about?" Sophia asked as her teeth ground together in impotent rage. It was galling to be trapped like this as if she was some caged animal. Even more insulting that it was a weak idiot like _Hebert_ that had managed to imprison her.

"You know, it's funny what you can find down here," Hebert said as she gave the rather decrepit boiler room a look over. "I'm pretty sure the janitor has been stealing stuff from the students for some time now. You wouldn't believe how much of their junk I found down here."

"Is there a point to this or are your just going to bore me to death?" Sophia asked as she tried to keep herself from touching the electrical field that was slowly closing in on her.

"You see, I was originally looking for a cell phone so I could call the police and tell them that you _locked me in here_ ," Hebert said, a slight hiss entering her voice that made Sophia roll her eyes.

"If you're just going to get prissy about what I did I don't want to hear it," she said. She already got enough indignation from her mom for her rather sour attitude at home. "I just stuck you inside a room for a few days. The fact that you triggered from that is rather pathetic." Sophia enjoyed the brief flicker of anger on Hebert's face before it smoothed itself out. She was willing to take whatever victory she could, even the pettiest of ones.

"Well, I did manage to find some phones, but much to my dismay there's no signal down here. But I did find another use for them," Taylor said with a shrug of her shoulders. "It turns out that their cameras still work quite well."

Sophia felt a chill go down her spine at Hebert's words. Did that mean…

The sound of clicking caught the Ward's attention as two more spiders emerged from their hiding places in the darkness. In the fangs of each one was a cell phone being supported with a surprising amount of delicacy for something so monstrous looking.

"I doubt it would stand up much in a court," Hebert said, drawing Sophia's attention back to her. "But given that you just admitted to locking me in here I'd say it's enough to give some truth to my words."

Sophia wanted to say something to wipe the infuriating look off Hebert's face, but no words came to mind. She was trapped and she had just admitted that she had trapped Hebert in a room against her will. If that got to Piggot it wouldn't matter if Hebert was the second coming of Nilbog, she would be thrown to the wolves faster than she could blink.

"I'm sure the Protectorate are already on their way, so I'm going to have to leave you for a time. Don't worry though, you'll have some company," Hebert said as she waved her hand towards part of the room. Now that her eyes were finally adjusting to the dim light Sophia could make out was her gaze was being directed at. Her stomach dropped like a rock at the sight of Emma's terrified eyes as she struggled against her bonds.

She was hung on the wall in a cocoon made of some green substance that looked like something out of a horror movie. It was as thick as her wrists and was apparently strong enough to hold Emma up despite her struggling. The only thing that could be heard from the cocoon were muffled screams of terror as the redhead tried to pull her way out of the webbing.

"Let her go!" Sophia roared. She would have stood up, but the field was already tight enough that it would have been inadvisable. Hebert just shrugged at Sophia's demand.

"If it's any consolation I'm not going to hurt her. I won't stoop to your level, Hess," Hebert spat out, a hint of anger coloring her voice. Sophia wanted to scream and rage, but now wasn't the time. She would wait for Hebert to make a mistake, then she would make the weakling pay for her actions.

"I'd love to stay and chat more," Hebert said with a sarcastic drawl. "But as I said, I have to be going. Ta-ta."

With that Hebert turned to leave, ignoring Sophia's curses as she was left alone in the dark with nothing but her best friend and a pack of monsters. Sophia slumped to the ground as the door to the room closed behind Hebert, casting them back into the inky darkness.

 _I'm not weak,_ Sophia thought to herself. She would survive this just like she survived Stephen. All she needed to do was be patience and wait for an opportunity to present itself. Though as she waited she realized that the possibility of going back to the Protectorate was off the table. Even if they didn't believe Hebert there would still be an investigation into this event. And while she often called Piggot and her PRT lackeys idiots, they weren't stupid. They would eventually find someone who would crack under pressure and spill what she had been doing at Winslow.

 _I'm not going to juvie,_ Sophia thought with a growl as Emma continued to fruitlessly struggle against her bonds in the background. She wouldn't be locked away with all those other criminals and weaklings. She needed to get away before the PRT and Protectorate found out what was happening.

As the Ward considered her options for running away, she never noticed the pulse of sickly green energy working its way down her body.

* * *

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	3. Negotiations

**Enjoy!**

Negotiations

Taylor supposed she should have felt some form of elation or relief at finally being able to breath fresh air, but she couldn't stop the churning in her gut. The lights of Winslow's decrepit hallway were almost blinding as she took her first steps into the outside world after her time in that hell.

The last three days had been some of the most trying in the young teen's life. Trapped and alone she had been left to rot in the boiler room by her tormenters, and not one person came to aid her. Nobody could hear her over the sound of the boiler and without any means to escape she had been resigned to her fate.

The room had alternating between sweltering and freezing for the past three days. If she hadn't found that water bottle in the cabinet she might have dehydrated before the trio came to check on her if they ever did. She had been forced to ration her water supply, only drinking the smallest amounts each day, stretching out her supply as long as she could. Her throat was dry and her lips chapped from the lack of sufficient hydration and her stomach was so empty that it had gone past the point of feeling hungry.

 _"What shall we do, my Queen?"_

Taylor turned to face the only good thing to come out of that hell. The blue spider-like Boggarak stared up at her with its red eyes. Fangs that looked as though they could wrap around her waist with room to spare clicked together as the creature awaited her command. The clicks and other assorted noises the spiders made shouldn't have made sense to her, but somehow, she could understand every word as if they were speaking English. It was fortunate that she could, otherwise, she probably would have still been screaming her head off when they first hatched from that egg that had shoved its way out her mouth.

Visorak.

The name of their species felt strange of her. She had never heard anything quite like it before, and yet it seemed to fit them. "Stealers of life" and "poisonous scourge" seemed to be interchangeable definitions of the word, which didn't exactly fill her with confidence. Finding out that she had powers was difficult enough, discovering that she had to keep a swarm of monstrously sized spiders in check from killing everyone that threatened her was even more taxing.

She might have questioned how a manifestation of power could self-identify itself and have its own language, but at this point, she didn't care too much about that.

 _"We will crush their bones and rip their flesh,"_ the bright red Vohtarak cried out with a level of enthusiasm that made Taylor's stomach curdle. She didn't want to kill anyone, not even Emma or Sophia. Before she could voice her opinion on the matter a second spider spoke up.

 _"Yes! Yes! Let us teach our enemies the fury of the Horde,"_ the green Keelerak cried as its fangs clicked together excitedly. Taylor had tried to fuss over the spider at the sight of its ruined eye, caked in its own blood. But instead of demanding attention the spider waved her off, claiming that he would willingly die in service for his queen. Taylor could only feel a growing sense of helplessness at the proclamation instead of the confidence the spider thought it would probably inspire.

She had done nothing to inspire this level of confidence in her…minions? She wasn't sure what the exact terminology was, but at any rate, she wasn't prepared to fight anyone. Especially not the local Protectorate.

"I can't fight the Protectorate," Taylor blurted out as the two spiders started going over ways they were going to kill their enemies. Her assembled minions turned towards her at her outburst, making the teen flush under the undivided attention. After being ignored for so long by everyone but her tormenters, the idea of someone, of anyone listening to her every word was an alien concept to her.

 _"But you are Queen,"_ her black Oohnorak said as if the idea of someone not bowing down to her whims was something it couldn't comprehend. She had noticed that this particular Visorak was far more subservient than the others, always agreeing with what she said but never pitching any ideas of its own. The others had even offered to use him as a battering ram to break down the door and he hadn't complained once.

"The Protectorate are the good guys, they'll help us," Taylor said with as much confidence as she could muster. Her weak and scratchy voice took away from the attempt, but she hoped she got her message through. She was already going to be in some pretty serious hot water as it was, there was no point in adding any more fuel to the fire.

Despite her assurances to Sophia that she would make sure the Protectorate knew what she had done she couldn't help but wonder if they already did. Someone had to know enough to cover Sophia's back, and Blackwell didn't seem the type to do such a thing unless she had some assurances. The thought of the Protectorate not being the paragons of justice that they claimed to be was disheartening, but hadn't mom always told her not to buy too much into the hype?

 _You'll always be disappointed in the end,_ the voice of her long dead mother echoed in her head.

The sound or PRT sirens filled the air, breaking Taylor out of her thoughts. She could already see some of the vans pulling up in the school parking lot through one of the classroom windows. The young teen bit her lip as she considered what she was going to do. She needed to make sure that the Protectorate and PRT didn't dismiss her off hand as a raving lunatic.

 _"We must fall back."_

Taylor turned her attention towards the white Suukorak of the group. Out of all her minions, this one had remained calm throughout her hysterics when she first met them. It had been the one to calmly explain the situation while the others flailed about trying to figure out what they had done to anger their queen. Despite the seriousness of the situation and the growing bloodlust of its green and red brethren, it kept its calm appearance. "What do you mean?" Taylor asked, eager for a plan that could keep her out of jail.

 _"If we move forward they will assume we are attacking. If you truly wish to speak to them, then you must show that you are not the monster they believe you to be. Return to the prey and wait for them to contact you,"_ it explained in a calm, almost bored tone. Taylor couldn't help but feel as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Despite the fact that he had referred to Emma and Sophia as prey, something she would have to work on later, it proved that she wasn't the only one trying to keep this entire thing from descending into violence. After being alone and without support for so long knowing that she had the unconditional support of no less than six superpowered spiders gave her a slight measure of comfort.

"…okay, we'll fall back to the boiler room," Taylor said with a nod. The thought of willingly going back into that place was enough to make her skin crawl in disgust, but it was a sacrifice she was going to have to make.

 _"Then we get to kill them?"_ the Vohtarak asked with such hope in its eyes that it almost hurt Taylor to shake her head.

"We aren't killing anyone!" she said, her face flushed. The thought of being responsible for the death of one of her childhood heroes was enough to make her stomach turn. The spider wilted under her gaze as if he had been struck. Taylor added, in a much softer tone, "I…I just want to talk to them. Can you guys try to not attack them when they show up?"

 _"We obey,"_ the assembled Visorak declared as one. Taylor let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. At least she could trust that she wasn't going to make this situation descend into violence. Now all she needed to do was wait for…

 _"My Queen, my Queen!"_

Taylor looked up to see her brown Roporak scurrying down the hallway with something in its fangs. She had sent him to go check to make sure that none of the students had been hurt during the fight with Sophia. She knew that at least one had been hit with a miss, but it had only been a paralyzing blast and he was relatively okay. A bit panicked given the situation, which was totally understandable, but otherwise unharmed.

As her minion drew closer she could see that the object that was nestled within its fangs was a cell phone, and a rather expensive one at that. Taylor doubted that anyone at the school had enough money to splurge on something like this. If they had the could have used it to get into a better school like Arcadia.

"Whose is it?" she asked as she took it from the spider.

 _"The one who dared to lay a hand against you, my Queen,"_ the Visorak said as it bowed its head submissively. She really wished they didn't do that, but she wasn't in any position to change their behaviors, and her mind was focused on other things. Given that Madison's body wasn't being dragged down the hallway it wasn't hers, and Emma hadn't changed her cell phone in years. That only left Sophia.

The small innocuous looking object felt like a cold weight in her hands as she opened it up. The girl hadn't even bothered to put in a password, apparently so confident in her position at the school she thought nobody would try to steal it. Taylor felt her hands tighten in anger as she scrolled through the bevy of text messages that detailed plans of her torment going back months.

She hadn't deleted them? Not a single one?

Was Sophia really that arrogant that she didn't think a single person would ever look at her phone aside from her? The sound of a cold laughter as the door closed behind her sent shivers down her spine. She supposed that nobody had ever given the girl reason to suspect her position could ever be in jeopardy.

Taylor felt a startled laugh escape her lips at the amount of ammunition that had just fallen into her lap. There was no way that Blackwell would be able to worm her way out of this one. The weasel of a woman would probably try, but she would have had to have been an idiot to think that there way any way that she could rationalize something like this.

Sophia's arrogance would be her downfall. She had more than enough information from these texts to at the very least prove that she had been less than the angel the Protectorate portrayed her as. Combined with the confession on Sophia's part that she had locked her in the boiler room she had a real chance to avoid being arrested by the Protectorate. The thought of being locked in a tiny cell for the rest of her life because of Sophia's actions was enough to send shivers down her spine.

But relying on a single source would have been beyond foolhardy. Even if it wasn't intentionally destroyed, the phone could still get damaged or contents deleted. Having multiple copies of the information would ensure that the evidence couldn't slip through her fingers like it had so many times before. She didn't have a cell phone to send it to given her distaste of the objects since her mother's death, but she did have an email address. A quick search through the phone's functions revealed that yes, it did have email capabilities, and yes Sophia did neglect to sign off.

Taylor felt her lips curl in anger at the sight of so many of the emails that had been sent from Sophia address. It looked like she even had them set to a timer so she wouldn't have to send each one herself. Her email address was so ingrained into the system that when she opened the compose email it automatically set her address in the send to box.

It was disturbing to see how much effort Sophia and Emma had put into bullying her.

A quick copy and paste and push of a button and every foul plan that Emma and Sophia ever had were stored away in her email addresses. She didn't use most of them any more thanks to the trio filling them with hate mail and death threats, but it was better to have too many copies than too few. As the last of the emails were sent out to ensure her security the phone's screen lit up as a call came in.

Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin as the phone buzzed in her hand. She swallowed as the device refused to place a caller identity, but there was really only one group that could be calling Sophia Hess at this time. Taylor felt a cold dread work its way up her spine as she flipped the phone open and pressed the device to her ear.

"H-hello?" she asked, and mentally cursed herself for making it sound as if she were an errant child who had lost their parents.

"Who is this? Identify yourself," the voice said from the other end of the line. It was gruff and uncompromising, but the sternness of the speaker's tone grounded Taylor back in reality and kept her from babbling in a panic. She swallowed nervously as she prepared to make her case to the PRT agent on the other end.

"I'm Taylor Hebert, I'm a student at Winslow," she explained. She tried to say more, but the man on the other end cut her off before she could continue.

"Where is Sophia Hess?" the man asked, his tone unchanging. Taylor felt a brief stab of irritation that the man hadn't even bothered to ask if she was okay first, but she brushed it off. If he was a PRT agent he was probably worried about Sophia's safety first given her identity as a Ward. She couldn't quite brush off a stab of resentment that the psycho that had made her life a living hell was given this much concern and she wasn't.

"She's been captured by the parahuman," she said, not quite lying but not quite telling the truth. She didn't want to deceive the man, but she needed to ease herself into the conversation so the man didn't hang up. The last thing she wanted was for them to think that she was threatening their Ward. She could hear some mumbling on the other end of the line before the man spoke again, this time with a bit less heat in his tone.

"Are you safe?" the voice asked with real concern laced in his words. Taylor could feel her hand wrap around the phone a bit tighter. How long had it been since someone had been concerned about her health? Her gaze flickered to her minions, who looked upon the conversation with an eager look in their eyes.

Maybe not that long ago.

"Yes, I'm fine, the parahuman didn't harm me," she said.

"Okay listen, you need to get out of there before the parahuman comes back to find you," the man said, clearly trying to get her out of harm's way. She might have appreciated the gesture a bit more if one of their Wards hadn't been the reason that she was in this situation in the first place.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt me," she said as she steeled herself for what came next. She could practically _feel_ the tension of the situation skyrocket as the man was slower to respond than before.

"And how are you sure of this," the man asked, his tone laced with suspicion. Taylor took in a deep breath to brace herself for what would come next.

"Because I'm the parahuman," she said as a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. The silence on the other end of the line was almost deafening. Taylor bit her lip nervously as she waited for the man on the other end to respond. For a moment, she feared that he had hung up as she muttered out a weak "Hello?"

"Unlawfully imprisoning a Ward is a federal offense. You will be persecuted to the full extent of the law," the man on the other end said. What warmth his voice had possessed had been swept aside by an icy coldness that sent chills up the young teen's spine. She could hear the weight of the threat in the man's tone as he explained exactly what was going to happen to her.

"Wait! It's not like that," Taylor cried out, her tone desperate. She couldn't let the Protectorate think she was some kind of villain.

"Then what is it like?" the man asked, a slight sarcastic drawl entering his tone. It almost made Taylor want to growl in frustration that another authority figure was refusing to listen to her. As the minions clicked their fangs together excitedly at the sudden anger twisting their master's face Taylor took in a deep breath. She couldn't afford to let herself become angry, that would only seal her fate.

"Sophia Hess has been bullying me since my freshman year of high school, and last Friday Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, and Sophia Hess they…they locked me inside of the school's boiler room and left me in their all weekend," Taylor would have rathered drawn nails across her flesh than talk about this, but this man needed to know what was going on. "I-I got my powers while I was in there and just got out when Emma and Sophia came back to taunt me through the door."

There was another long silence on the other end of the line, but this one didn't feel as nearly oppressive or aggressive as the last one. When the man came back onto the line there was still a good amount of skepticism in his voice, but there was something else in there that she couldn't quite identify.

"Do you have proof of this?"

Taylor wanted to scream. She had possessed proof since day one, but nobody had ever taken her seriously since then. They dismissed it as a lonely girl acting out against her peers or looking for attention. The faculty and authorities had all but abandoned her to the nonexistent mercy of Sophia and Emma and turned a blind eye to their "antics" as they put them.

"I have a video of Sophia admitting to throwing me in the boiler room and texts from her cell phone detailing her bullying," Taylor said as she tried to keep her anger in check. She didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with this guy. He held her very future in his hands as he seemed to mull over what she told them.

"What's your name?"

"Taylor Hebert," she said without a trace of hesitation. Strangely enough, the man didn't seem too pleased with her answer despite that having been his question.

"No I mean- never mind. Okay, Taylor, listen, I understand that you've gone through an extremely traumatic event. But holding a Ward hostage isn't looked well upon, regardless of the circumstances. So here is what is going to happen, PRT agents are going to come to your position and foam you. We'll take you back to the PRT headquarters along with Sophia and we _will_ sort this all out. Understand?"

Taylor bit her lip nervously as she considered the man's offer. On one hand, she would practically be giving herself to the PRT gift wrapped and would be imprisoned. On the other hand, he had promised that the matter would be investigated.

 _How many times have you heard that before?_ The little voice in the back of her head asked. How many times did ask Blackwell or the teachers to help her only get a noncommittal answer? Far too many for her tastes. The sting of betrayal was still a bitter thing to feel, and she wasn't sure if she could deal with it again. If the man on the other end of the line didn't hold up his end of the deal then she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Nothing good, that was for sure.

"I – I understand," Taylor said, the words reluctantly falling from her lips. She wasn't too keen on being imprisoned again, but if they dealt with Sophia she could grit her teeth and bear with it. "I have Sophia and Emma Barnes in the boiler room, I'll wait down there with my minions."

"Minions? Are you claiming that you've Mastered students?" There was a hard edge to the voice, even more so than when she had admitted to being the parahuman that attacked Sophia. It took her a second to realize that the man was angry at the possible idea that she had been mind controlling members of her fellow student body. A sick feeling passed through her at the thought of her having a power that controlled people like she commanded the Visorak.

"No! I have a bunch of spiders," Taylor quickly clarified. She didn't want to be labeled as a psychotic mind controller.

"…You took down a trained Ward with spiders?" The man on the other end asked incredulously. Taylor tried to imagine Sophia being covered by a horde of regular spiders and had to hold back a snort at the image.

"They're about the size of a dog," she offered as she glanced at her aforementioned minions. The seemed to perk up as if they were waiting for her to give them commands. She couldn't help but compare them to a group of dogs that were waiting for their owner to give them a walk.

"I see," the man said, his tone contemplative. "And you can't dismiss them from existence?"

Taylor opened her mouth to answer but realized that she didn't actually know. Placing a hand over the speaker she whispered to her minions, "Can you guys go away?"

 _"We could leave if that is your desire. But then how would we protect you, My Queen? We would be far away from anyone that would dare to strike you?"_ the Oohnorak asked with a tilt of its body.

"No…I mean can you cease to exist?" she asked in an attempt to clarify her question. She had to wonder if other people had problems like this with their powers.

 _"If it is your will we will gladly end our lives,"_ the Vohtarak said with such pride that for a second she thought he might start bashing his skull against the wall. Taylor couldn't help but blanch at the statement as the blood drained from her face. The sheer casual admittance that they would kill themselves to please her sent her gut into a barrel roll.

"No! Not like that!" she shrieked, her mouth hanging in shock. She wasn't sure if they man on the other end of the line heard her panicked shout, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "Why would you even think about doing something like that?"

 _"The will of the Queen is the will of the Horde,"_ the Suukorak said as it pushed its way past the other Visorak, its crystal blue eyes gleaming in the light. Taylor couldn't help but swallow as she watched each one of the Visorak give her a similar expression. She couldn't quite wrap her head around the situation that these six beings would willingly follow every order she gave them, even if it cost them their lives.

"Um, no I can't," Taylor said to the man. She wasn't exactly sure how she could explain this to him if he pressed for information, and she doubted clarifying how far her minions would be willing to go to protect her would win her much appreciation. She didn't want him to think that the Protectorate would be going up against a swarm of kamikazeing spiders.

"Very well, can you call them to a single spot at least?" he asked over the phone, thankfully not pushing for any more information about dismissing them. Taylor was grateful that his next question was much easier to answer.

"Yes," she said as she tried to avoid fidgeting. Prolonged conversation with a stranger wasn't something that she was really used to. She couldn't help but think that she was going to somehow screw this up before crossing the finishing line.

"Alright, then call them to the area around you and we'll foam them too," the voice said. Taylor bit her lip as she considered the offer. She didn't have an issue with being foamed herself, she was weak and useless. Even if she wasn't foamed she wouldn't be able to stand up against a PRT agent, much less a Protectorate hero. But allowing her minions to be foamed would be taking away her only form of protection.

Not that she particularly wanted to fight against the Protectorate. But after having spent the last few years of her life without any assistance whatsoever the thought of willingly giving up such support made her stomach spin.

"Alright," she said after a moment.

"We'll surrender."

* * *

 _"Why must we surrender my Queen? Should we not destroy all who stand in your path?"_ the Vohtarak asked with a quizzical glint in its eye as if the entire idea of surrendering was something completely alien to it.

"We can't fight the Protectorate. I don't _want_ to fight the Protectorate," Taylor said with a sigh. Trying to explain the concept of surrendering to the Visorak took a bit of work, but it was a welcome distraction from her current surroundings. The walls that had kept her trapped for the last three days felt oppressive and malevolent as if they were about to close in and swallow her whole. She tried to keep herself from staring at the scratch marks that lined the door and tried to ignore the dull ache of her worn out fingernails.

A snort from Sophia caught her attention.

"What?" Taylor asked, her tone so sharp it could have sliced steel. If Sophia felt threatened by the undertones she didn't show it. All she did was give Taylor a mocking smile as arcs of electricity crossed around her. The cage had shrunk to the point that the Ward couldn't stretch out her full length and had to curl up in on herself to avoid the high voltage bars that kept her in place.

"You finally have the power to push back and all you do is hide in the basement like a scared child," she said, her lips curling into a sneer. "After all this, you're still weak."

 _"You dare insult the Queen!"_ the Keelerak practically roared. Though she knew Sophia couldn't understand the Visorak's speech it appeared that the enraged screeching from their blade-like teeth was enough to make her flinch.

"At least I'm not so weak I have to pick on others," Taylor shot back. Sophia stilled and for a moment Taylor might have been able to confuse her for a statute.

"What?" The question was a slow and deliberate thing. She could practically feel the inferno of rage threatening to break open behind that single word.

"You heard me." In comparison, her own voice might as have been an arctic wind. "People like you pick on the weak because deep down you know you're just like them. You need to prove to yourself that you're stronger than them. In reality, all you do is show how weak you really are."

Sophia was literally trembling with rage by the end of her little speech. If looks could kill she would have been a pile of smoking dust under Sophia's glare. She could see the Ward's bloody palms squeezing themselves together. It looked like she was about to hedge her bets and try to get past the cage one last time when the door was smashed in with the force of a wrecking ball. Taylor flinched in panic as wooden splinters clattered against the floor even as her minions moved to shield her.

Her eyes caught the sight of something silver shooting through the door a split second before it exploded. For a brief moment, she feared that it was a grenade and that she was about to die in a hailstorm of fire and shrapnel. But instead of hot bits of metal, a white foam expanded out from the point of detonation. Taylor tried to keep herself from panicking as the liquid like substance slammed into her form and her Visorak, covering them with a layer of white.

The dark-haired teen didn't even have time to blink as the sticky but malleable liquid solidified, becoming stronger than rock. Even as she tentative tested her restraints she found that she couldn't move at all, the white foam bolting her in place. Fortunately, her head remained free of the substance, but her Visorak hadn't been so lucky.

They seemed fine if there muffled speech was anything to go by, but they seemed less than pleased by the current arrangement. Having been directly in the path of the projectile most of them were completely buried in the foam, though the Boggarak's head and fangs remained free from their prison.

 _"My Queen! Are you unharmed?"_ the Visorak asked with a panicked note in its tone. She could see it trying to twist its head around to get a better look at her, but it didn't have enough body motion to get her in its field of vision.

"I'm fine," Taylor said, calming the Visorak down at bit. Despite her reassurances at her health, the spider-like being didn't cease its struggling in an effort to escape the immobile structure. The sound of something metal started to make its way down the stairs, drawing her attention away from the flailing Visorak. Taylor could feel her throat dry up at the sight of the iconic blue power armor that anyone in Brockton Bay could recognize.

"Taylor Hebert?" Armsmaster asked. Taylor blinked in surprise as she recognized his voice, the very same voice that she had been speaking to on the phone. She could only nod in numb recognition that the man she had been speaking to over the phone was a Nationally famous hero and she didn't even know it.

Armsmaster's mouth was set into the thin line as he looked over the room with his visor even as PRT agents began to funnel down the stairs behind him. They moved with a trained precision as they encircled her while pointing something that looked like the lovechild of a leaf blower and a garden hose. The Boggarak had seemly resigned itself to glaring at the troopers, making more than one of them fidget nervously.

"What are you waiting for? Arrest her!" Sophia howled through her electrified bars. Armsmaster turned toward the imprisoned Sophia, her face twisted into a hideous snarl. His gaze shifted towards the cocooned Emma as tears of fear ran down the green webbing. His visor finally settled on her, and Taylor couldn't help but squirm underneath the older hero's gaze.

"You claim you have evidence of their actions?" Armsmaster asked with a somewhat skeptical tone. Taylor wasn't exactly sure if she could blame him for being skeptical. She would have been doubtful if she heard that a Ward was tormenting others for laughs.

"Yeah, I set them on the table over there," she said, nodding her head toward the dilapidated workbench. It had been difficult to relinquish her grip on the phones in fear that they would be broken or "lost" on the way, but she hadn't wanted to risk the possibility the foam might ruin them.

Armsmaster nodded to one of the PRT agents who cautiously moved over to pick up one of the cell phones. The man carefully picked up the cellular device and handed it to the Protectorate Tinker. The phone looked so small and fragile compared to his power armor that Taylor feared that he might accidently break it.

But with a delicacy that was belied by its size her picked the phone up and attached a cord from his wrist into the phone. In the corner of her eye, Taylor could see a flicker of fear cross Sophia's face as Armsmaster's mouth curved into a frown. After a few seconds, the man unclicked the phone and handed it back to the PRT agent. Taylor tried not to squirm as his gaze settled on her once more.

"You understand that if this was doctored you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law?" he asked.

"I'm _not_ lying," Taylor said with a bit more heat than she had intended. But she was tired of the authorities always telling her off as if she was a toddler crying for attention. But instead of being offended Armsmaster just gave her a nod.

"I just want to ensure you understood the severity of this," Armsmaster said, his tone betraying nothing. He looked like he was about to add in more, but was cut off by Sophia.

"You're taking her side!?" Sophia practically screamed as spittle flew out from her mouth, fizzling against the crackling electricity that kept her in place.

"No," Armsmaster said, making Taylor's stomach drop. Her fears were somewhat alleviated as the man continued, "But there is enough evidence that this warrants a more thorough investigation into your activities Sophia."

Taylor tried not to smirk as Sophia wilted under Armsmaster's gaze, but after being tormented by the Ward for so long she allowed herself some satisfaction of the boot being on the other foot. Armsmaster turned toward her and pulled something out of a hidden compartment on his suit. Taylor saw that the object in question was a cloth mask that might have once been a ski mask.

"We'll need to protect your identity," Armsmaster explained at her quizzical look. "Unless you want the public to know who you are." Taylor shook her head even as the Boggarak cut in.

 _"Let them know who you are and see them tremble in awe my Queen,"_ the Visorak said with excited chittering, making some of the PRT agents twitch. She supposed that if all she was able to hear were clicks and chittering she would be fairly unsettled by the dog-sized spider too.

"Do you have any preferences for a cape name?" Armsmaster asked as he slid the fabric over her face. Taylor tried not to twitch as the itchy material brushed up against her skin. Her glasses felt uncomfortable underneath the fabric as they were pressed into her head.

"Not really," she answered as she tried to ignore the irritation the mask was causing. It was only a temporary measure for the moment and one that was necessary.

Armsmaster gave her a stiff nod before turning his attention back to the PRT troopers. "Get Sophia, the civilian and Araneae loaded up into the vans, we'll take them back to headquarters."

"Uh, sir? How are we going to get her out of that?" one of the troopers asked as he pointed to the restrained Sophia. The Ward looked like she was less than enthused by the events taking place, and had seemed to resign herself to sneering at everyone in the room. Taylor could only shrug at the look Armsmaster gave her. She had no more idea how to shut if off than they did. After a moment, the Protectorate hero sighed, his shoulder slumping somewhat under his power armor.

"This is going to a long day."

* * *

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	4. Hordika

**Enjoy!**

Hordika

Sophia Hess bit back a frustrated growl as a pair of electrically charged handcuffs were wrapped around her wrists. She could feel the metal buzz against her skin as the charge worked its ways through the metal, effectively neutralizing her powers. The cold steel was a stark contrast against her warms flesh and the ambient heat of the room, like dunking her wrists in a bucket of ice.

"Get up," the PRT agent ordered as she was hauled back up to her feet. She could feel her knees pop in relief at being able to extend to their full range, but she was just as trapped as she had been in the cage, perhaps even more so. At least with Hebert, she had still been able to get a rise out of her, no matter how slight. She had still possessed a measure of control over the situation. But now the situation was different.

 _Out of one prison and into another_ , she thought as her anger curled into rage. Hebert was still being scrapped from the floor by the PRT idiots, but even then, she still managed to give her a look of utter contempt. Her flat and expressionless gaze wasn't the look of someone who was afraid, but of one who was staring at a particularly irritating ant. The dismissal burned at the very core of Sophia's being. She wanted to howl and rage at her and rip Hebert's flesh from her face and make her _suffer –_

"Sophia Hess," Armsmaster's voice brought her out of her rage induced fantasies. The elder hero's mouth was set into a firm disapproving line as if he could somehow judge her. It wasn't her fault that Hebert was so weak that she couldn't take a joke.

"What?" Sophia ground out so hard that it wouldn't have been surprising if sparks started to fly from her teeth. She could feel her gut curling in rage as he remained unflapped by her anger. She could feel her hands twitching to free themselves from the cuffs and make a break for it, but she wouldn't have made more than a few feet, even if the cuffs didn't have a charge running through them.

"Before this turns into a full-scale investigation I'm going to give you a chance to come clean. Did you or did you not take part in the unlawful imprisonment of Taylor Hebert?" the man asked with that same toneless voice that made Sophia want to punch him in the face. Her fingers twitched a little as she restrained herself, but from the tightening of his mouth, he caught onto her thoughts.

Sophia's first response was to deny the claim in their entirety and try to heap as much of this onto Hebert's shoulders as she could. If she could make Hebert seem like nothing more than a loon then anything she said would be thrown out as crazy talk. But then again, Armsmaster wasn't an idiot.

As much as she liked to think otherwise none of the Protectorate members were stupid by any means. Many of them had survived as capes for decades without dying, which was an impressive feat in the parahuman community. Most new capes didn't survive past their first six months or their first Endbringer battle. To survive for so long, especially in such a violent city like Brockton Bay, spoke of a level of cunning and resourcefulness that she knew she couldn't match even on her best day.

A lone wolf knew better than to attack a lion.

But at the same time admitting to the act would be condemning her to juvenile hall, no matter how much of a fuss Mr. Barnes raised. The thought of being caged up like a common criminal, like a nobody, rankle Sophia. She didn't deserve to be thrown into the pit. Who cared about Hebert? She had saved dozens of lives than had been worth far more than Hebert or any of the weakling cowards that she had come across. She was worth more than that worthless worm, even with her newfound power.

If she admitted her actions she would be submitting herself even further to an organization whose effectiveness she found laughable at best. How many years had the gangs practically owned the city without the Protectorate lifting more than an obligatory finger to help? The Protectorate and Ward capes got to live in their ivory towers and look down on the dying city and had the audacity to condemn her for being tough. None of them had ever lived on the bottom rung like she had, they didn't know what growing up as a minority while Empire lurked around the corner was like.

So what if she had been bullying Hebert? If she couldn't handle a little roughhousing from her then there was no way that she would be able to survive living in this city for much longer. The gangs wouldn't be as nearly civil as she was.

"Did you or did you not take part in the unlawful imprisonment of Taylor Hebert?" Armsmaster asked again, a hint of impatience entering his tone as he stared down at the younger parahuman. Sophia remained silent, instead giving the man a fierce glare that all but said her choice. If the Protectorate wanted to toss her aside for some weakling then she would make them fight every step of the way.

"I see," Armsmaster said with a disappointed sigh. Sophia wanted nothing more than at that moment to rip that disappointed look off the man's face.

 _Kill. Hurt. Prey._

Sophia felt something ripple along her arms, like a thousand spiders dancing under her skin. She brushed off as some stray voltage from the cuffs and kept her glare focused on Armsmaster. If the man was at all surprised or put off by her hate filled gaze he didn't show it.

That only made her want to hurt him even more.

"Jenkins," Armsmaster said, bringing the PRT agent standing behind her to attention. Sophia had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the blind loyalty to the trooper displayed. From the wide-eyed look on his face, he was probably one of the fresher recruits and hadn't quite gotten used to being ordered by the Tinker. "Take her to headquarters and put her in Master/Stranger confinement. I don't want her causing more trouble than she already has."

"Yes sir," the man said with an ever so slight stutter in his words that was only slightly muffled by his riot helm. Sophia felt his foam gun press up against her back as he urged her to move forwards. Sophia glanced back to give him a dark look, which to her amusement he flinched at. But as entertaining as that was, it still didn't solve the issue of being carted off to the Master/Stranger isolation cell.

That thing made a prison cell look like the Ritz in comparison. It had been specifically designed to keep the occupant as uncomfortable as they could in order to keep them off their game. She herself had had the pleasure of being thrown in one for an hour or so for training purposes along with the rest of the Wards.

It had been one of the most grueling and mind boggling boring hours of her life. The thought of being locked up back in that room for an indefinite amount of time made her skin crawl. She could feel goosebumps run up and down her arms as the twitching sensation came back in full force. The mere thought of being shoved back into one of those rooms almost made her rethink her choice to remain defiant.

Almost.

As Sophia was forced up the stairs by the threat of being foamed she turned around to give Hebert one last glare. Instead of quailing as she had done dozens of times before the weakling gave her a glare right back that was quickly joined by her freakish pet. Sophia felt a chill go up her spine once more at the sight of the utterly predatory look in the monster's eyes. It was as if she were staring into the eyes of a hungry wolf.

 _Predator. Flee._

"Move," Jenkins said as he gave her a light shove. Sophia growled in irritation at being shoved around but complied as the man raised his foam sprayer in warning. It was humiliating to be frog marched through the school hallways like a common gangbanger. Her footsteps echoed through the deserted hallways as she glowered at nothing, her face twisted into an ugly scowl with nothing to direct it at. At the very least she was grateful that they PRT had cordoned off the school and was keeping the news out. That would have been even more humiliating to be gawked at by the mouth breathing idiots that inhabited this city.

"Inside," Jenkins ordered as they approached the PRT van. Sophia glowered at the order but complied. As she stepped up into the open back of the van she could feel the featureless walls closing in on themselves. She always hated being in one of these things, it always felt like she was being caged like a common animal. The windowless walls were all she had to look at as she was shoved into a very uncomfortable seat. Jenkins was joined by another stone-faced guard as the pulled the double doors shut behind them. The door locked with a deafening click, sealing them all inside.

Sophia glared at the PRT agent as the clipped her cuffs to a chain running from the floor so she could move her arms beyond a certain radius. Not that the chain would help if the cuffs weren't electrified, but she supposed that procedure was procedure, even if it was stupid and useless.

"We're clear," Jenkins said over the PRT issued radio strapped to his chest. Sophia felt the rumble of the engine start as the car powered up. A slight jolt was the only indication that they had actually started driving. She knew that the vans had been upgraded with Tinker tech to make it more difficult for prisoners to determine where they were going. The near motionless experience and lack of windows made virtually impossible to tell where they were or where they were going.

"Did you really lock that girl in the boiler room?"

Sophia turned her attention to Jenkins, who looked down at her with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. She could feel her lips curling at the question as her anger started to boil over. What made this momma's boy think he had the right to judge her. What use was he when villains were rampaging down the streets. He stood behind a nice safe line while the heroes went out to deal with them. It was only after they were ensured their safety that they would join in the fight. They were like a pack of vultures circling a pride of lions, just waiting to steal whatever glory they could for their useless organization.

 _Prey. Weak. Kill._

"Don't engage the prisoner," the older and obviously more experienced PRT agent drawled. Sophia gave the man a glare, but he took it on without flinching, his dark brown eyes staring back into her own without an ounce of fear.

"I just wanted to know if she was actually that psychotic she'd try to kill someone," Jenkins shot back defensively. Sophia tensed as she glared at the younger PRT agent, but a quick and controlled movement from the elder officer towards his foam sprayer's trigger made her reconsider. Sophia settled back down in her uncomfortable seat and tried to satisfy her desire to inflict pain by glaring at everything in sight.

"Doesn't matter. No talking to prisoners," the man said through his weathered lips. Sophia wanted to glare at the man, but something felt wrong. She could feel something twisting in her cut like a hurricane of razor blades. The feeling of something running under her skin came back in full force, only this time a thousand times worse. It was like every inch of her body was moving, shifting, changing.

Sophia curled up a bit in order to try and stem some of the pain centering around her gut. She tried to keep her movements subtle enough so she didn't draw the guard's attentions, but she found herself to be relatively unsuccessful.

"You okay?" Jenkins asked with a mix of concern and caution plastered on his face as he pushed his faceplate out of the way. It almost made Sophia want to growl at him for thinking herself weak, but another bout of pain overcame her and all that passed through her lips was a low groan.

"She's fine," the older PRT agent said with no small amount of contempt. She couldn't see his face from her current position, but she was willing to bet he didn't look even as half as concerned at his partner. Part of her appreciated his reaction while the other part wanted to scream out for help. "She's just trying to act sick so she can get close enough to attack us."

Sophia grunted again as something shifted in her chest. While she was no expert on human anatomy, she was fairly certain that nothing was supposed to be moving there. Her mind shot back to that old Earth Aleph movie that she had once watched. It was hazy in her memory, but she could remember something bursting out of the character's chest in a violent display of gore and blood.

"You sure? Because she looks a little green around the gills," Jenkins said as he cautiously approached the unwell looking parahuman. Sophia wrenched forward, spewing her stomach contents all over the pristine looking floor. As she heaved she could hear various expletives work their way out of the PRT agent's mouths.

"Kid, are you alright?" Jenkins asked as he stretched a hand out to shake her shoulder for a response.

 _Prey. Hunt. Attack._

The second that his arm was within reach Sophia _moved._

It was an act of instinct rather than any planning on her part, a knee jerk reaction to having her personal space invaded during a moment of weakness. Though Sophia had to admit that she didn't do much to stop it. Jenkins yelped as Sophia wrapped her cuff bound hands around his outstretched wrist and pulled. There was a sickening thump as the man's face struck the wall behind him, cracking his nose and probably giving him a concussion in the process.

In the back of her mind that hadn't been completely subsided by her fight and flight response Sophia realized that she just wasn't this strong. Even with the PRT agent off balance, she had felt him resisting and that still hadn't been enough to keep him from toppling over like a bowling pin.

But such thoughts weren't Sophia's concern as the older agent started to aim his foam sprayer. With a grunt, Sophia placed her legs on the dazed PRT agent's waist and pushed. The man tumbled backwards into his partner, knocking them both on their butts. As the older agents made to remove his younger comrade from his form Sophia was already working on removing her cuffs.

With a hellish howl, she slammed her metal restraints against the seat of the truck in a mad frenzy. She knew she didn't have a chance to snap the cuffs like that, but if she could just force one of the wires loose inside then –

SNAP!

Sophia grinned as the ever-present hum of the cuffs faded into nothing. Sophia turned into her shadow state for a split second to allow the cuffs to slip from her gaseous form. She recoiled in pain as a burning sensation ran down her body as she retook her physical form. She had gone into her shadow state dozens, if not hundreds of times before, and never had it ever felt so difficult. It was like trying use pick up a pair of weights that were too heavy. You could do it, if only for a split second, but the effort left you exhausted.

"What?" she muttered with a grunt as her gut twisted in on itself, even more, no doubt it was starting to resemble a pretzel by now.

"Get off!" Sophia turned to see the older PRT agent throwing his incapacitated teammate off his form as he reached for his discarded foam sprayer. She was tempted to try and beat the man into the ground, but she could tell that he wasn't going to go down without a fight, even with her newfound strength. He didn't have to beat her, only hold in in place long enough for the driver of the van to realize something was wrong.

But she didn't need to fight him to escape.

"Later losers," Sophia taunted as she forced herself back into her shadow state. She could feel that this time trying to get it to turn on was even harder than before, it actually took a second or two for her body to switch from its corporeal state. She had to give the PRT agent credit, he had pretty good reflexes. She had only just gotten into her shadow state when a stream of containment foam blasted through her form and impacted the wall behind her. Even as the man started to shout on his radio for assistance Sophia slipped through the side of the truck.

The bright light of the sun struck her form as she exited the windowless vehicle. As she retook her physical form she tried to take stock of her surroundings while ignoring the burning pain emanating along her entire body. She could _feel_ bones and muscles shifting beneath her skin as if she were nothing more than a jigsaw puzzle. She could feel the steady dull pain start to sharpen, but she couldn't afford to succumb to her agony right now. Not until she was as far away from here as possible.

 _Flee._

Her feet pounded against the sidewalk as she ran for safety. She wasn't sure where she was going, but as long as it was away from here she would be fine. She couldn't allow herself to be thrown back into that cage of a cell, couldn't afford to lose her control, her power. She could hear the PRT truck screech to a halt behind her, but she didn't look back as she turned a corner.

All she did was run. Just like she always had.

Just like she had run from Stephen.

The thought curled in her head like a viper, a poisonous thing that tore at her mind. She could feel her anger and rage ignite in fury at the reminder of the weakness that had once consumed her. The weakness that she had cast aside when she had reforged herself as Shadow Stalker. The strength that the Protectorate tried to rip from her, the freedom that they tried to chain down. She would make sure that the PRT paid for this reminder of her past. She would make sure that Hebert suffered for this humiliation.

She would make them all pay.

* * *

Sophia wasn't sure how long she had been weaving through the streets and alleyways of Brockton Bay. The sun had started to rise up even higher and scorched the earth with its blazing rays. The distant sound of traffic echoed through the streets as the ex-Ward fell to her knees.

She had been ignoring the growing pain for some time now, but it had gotten to the point where she couldn't even breathe without feeling like she was chugging molten iron. Every part of her body felt as if it had gone through a couple rounds with Hookwolf. She could only watch on in horror as her skin started to rise and fall as if something was trying to force its way through.

Sophia grit her teeth as she tried to force herself to move further down the alleyway, but all she accomplished was falling flat on her face as her legs collapsed beneath her.

"Well looky here. We got ourselves a lost little girl."

The nasally voice echoed down the alleyway like a bad omen. Sophia twisted her head around enough to see a duo of rather obvious Merchants leering at her with varying amounts of teeth in their gums. It was almost too generous to call their clothes clothing, they were more like pieces of fabric that just happened to be attached to each other wrapped around their skeletal bodies. The blue bandanas wrapped around their necks signified that they were indeed members of the Merchants and not just a group of common druggies. If that wasn't enough proof to their gang affiliations the many, many marks that ran up and down their arms was proof enough of their drug abuse.

A few hours ago, she would have laughed at the suggestion that they might be a threat. With their gaunt, hollowed-out forms they only thing keeping them standing were the drugs coursing through their veins. They were scavengers of the highest order, never picking fights but instead sitting on the sidelines and gathering what scraps they could.

 _Prey. Weak._ _ **Kill.**_

But that was before she had every cell of her body screaming in agony as her very being was being twisted like a piece of putty. She could barely walk, much less fight a group of grown men, no matter how drugged up they were.

"Maybe we ought to offer her some assistance," one of the Merchants said as he twisted his black gums into a facsimile of a smile.

"Get away," Sophia growled out through clenched teeth as she tried to stand back up. She made it about a third of the way before she collapsed back on the ground like a fish out of water.

"I don't think yur in any position to be order'n us girlee," the leader of the group said as he stepped forward. A rusted looking knife danced between his boney fingers as his eyes glinted with a sadistic glee. Sophia felt a chill travel down her spine as the trio started to move closer, cutting her off from the entrance of the alley.

"Get **away** ," Sophia growled out, stopping the Merchants in their tracks. The almost bestial noise that she had made was unlike anything they had ever heard. Somewhere between a chainsaw and a motor engine. It was a sound that defiantly shouldn't have been coming out of a human mouth.

"Somethin' ain't right 'bout this girl Tommy," one of the Merchants said as he eyed Sophia with a new wariness. She could practically smell the fear and uncertainty wafting off of him, though that might have just been his normal stench. It was hard to tell when his entire form was covered in a layer of grime and dirt.

"You a coward John?" the leader shot back as he tried to hide his fear with bravado. But Sophia could still see the glint of uncertainty in those pits of eyes, like a spark of fire trying to light up the night. The man was just too stupid to realize that his instincts were screaming at him to run.

 _Prey. Weak. Hunt._

 _ **KILL.**_

"AUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

The noise that Sophia let out chilled the Merchants to the bone. Stray dogs started howling as her inhuman screech of terror echoed through the alleyways and buildings like a chorus of agony. Then the changes started.

Or rather, they finished.

Sophia's screaming intensified as talons of metal tore free from the tips of her left hand. Flesh ribboned off her newly clawed hand as fresh metal glinted in the sunlight. She could feel her the bones in her right-hand fusing together as a sharp blade extended from her wrist. Blood and muscle dripped off the blade as it extended further and further, like a spring being stretched it its limit. By the time it was done her hand was nothing more than a three-foot-long blade with a leftover flesh dangling along the extended appendage.

Her feet underwent a similar process as claws that wouldn't have looked remiss on a wolf tore out from her sneakers, tearing the entire thing to ribbons. Her toes fused and thickened until there was nothing left but four large clawed toes digging into the dirt.

Her back broadened and sunk inside itself like a collapsing tent as more metal conglomerated around that area. Sophia couldn't tell what was going on, but she could feel _something_ rising out of her back as if her entire spine was trying to tear out of her body at once. Bits of metal tore free from her flesh all along her body like facsimiles of armor plating around some of her weak points. She could feel her knees and elbows harden as the bones fused and armored together.

Sophia's pained expression twisted and contorted as it went through some changes of its own. Fangs the size of fingers erupted from the top of her mouth, shoving teeth aside to make room for themselves. Sophia was forced to cough up her ruined teeth as they were torn out by the roots. She could feel her lower jaw twisting to account for her now extended fangs so she didn't bite herself every time she closed her jaw.

Within seconds the entire process was over and the parahuman let out a strained sigh of relief. That had been beyond anything that she had ever experienced before. Her heavy breathing was the only sound in the alleyway as she struggled to right herself once more. This time she didn't fall over in sheer agony, but instead rose up with a quickness and grace that she had never possessed before.

The young teen blinked in surprise as unfamiliar smells and sounds filled her ears. She could hear the heartbeats of the Merchants behind her and the stain of sweat and urine as their fear slowly overcame them. Turning around Sophia found herself paying attention to things that she had never noticed before, like the weakness in their legs or the twitching of their muscles. She could see that they were more than ready to run away screaming their heads off.

"Now, there's no need for us to get violent," the leader said with a weak smile as he held his hands up in a peace offering. Sophia's eyes locked onto the small knife still wrapped in his boney hands. What seemed like such a threat mere moments ago was nothing more than a mild irritant now. Sophia could feel her clawed hand twitch as the Merchants tried to back away from her as slowly as she could.

"Told you somethin' wasn't right," Tommy muttered under his breath as his face twitched in thinly veiled panic.

"Shut up!" the leader shouted, twisting himself to face his unruly compatriot.

 _Prey. Weak._

 _ **Kill**_ _._

The split-second distraction was all that Sophia needed. With an animalist roar, she leaped forward, using her muscular legs to push off the ground and towards the distracted Merchant. She watched as the man's angry expression caved in on itself as her outstretched arms reached for him. The man didn't even have time to consider moving before she was upon him. She crashed into him with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking him to the ground and breaking quite a few of his ribs in the process.

The Merchant's panicked screamed echoed through the alley as her claws tore at his flesh with wild abandon. There was no thought or reason in her actions, only instinct. The man lasted about four seconds under her ministrations before his throat was torn out by her blade, along with a good chunk of his spine in the process.

As Sophia looked up from her fresh kill she could see that the other Merchant was making a run for it. She could feel herself light up in delight as she chased after him, the thrill of the hunt overtaking her. She could smell the sweat pouring down his face, the quick, panicked heartrate of a frightened rabbit. She could feel her blood gushing through her veins as she made after the frightened man.

She could have ended the hunt in an instant if she so desired. There was no way that could match her speed, no way for him to hide from her. She could have killed him before he made it out of the alleyway. But instead she toyed with him, taunted and teased him as they weaved their way through the dilapidated streets of the city. She gave him hope for escape before bringing it all crashing down, proving to him how utterly helpless he was compared to her strength.

But eventually, her fun had to come to an end.

She cornered the man with his back to a brick wall. With two buildings on his sides, there was no way that he could escape from her grasp.

Not that he had ever had a chance.

"Please," he begged, tears running down his face. His eyes would flicker to the blood of his former compatriot that now caked her hands like a layer of sunscreen. Sophia's poisonous green eyes tracked him as she let out a shuddering laugh at the man's pleas for mercy.

 _Prey. Weak._

 _ **Kill.**_

"You don't want to die?" Sophia asked with a mocking edge to her tone. There was a slight metallic echo to her voice, as if her throat had been converted in to pure steel. The man shook his head nervously as he cowered like the little rat he was. His gaunt features made him look even smaller than he actually was, and the notion that she had ever been intimidated by him was swept aside. How could someone as weak as him possibly be a threat to her.

He was a weakling, a waste of human space who didn't have the decency to lie down and die. A piece of human trash that polluted the streets just like the rest. A bunch of herd animals who were too dumb and stupid to realize how much danger they were in.

"Too bad," Sophia said with a monstrous hiss. The man whimpered in fear, and in that moment, she was tempted to rip his throat out with her claws and be done with it. But she paused as she shifted her back, feeling the new weight that had been added on. It wasn't enormous, but it kept her from standing straight up without some actual effort on her part. She could realize describe what happen next as to how she accomplished the feat, but she felt the thing on her back fold out and up.

She hissed as some flesh was torn by the appendage's movements, but she quickly ignored the pain and the warm trickles of blood running down her back. A whizzing sound that was eerily familiar to Hebert's minions filled the air as her own disk started to spin and crackle with energy. The Merchants clawed at the brick wall in a desperate attempt to climb over it, but he didn't have nearly enough strength or leverage to pull it off. All he accomplished was tearing his own fingernails off and staining the brick wall with blood.

After a few seconds of charging the disk Sophia fired. The Merchant screamed in panic as she disk covered the distance between them faster than he could blink, and it was then that the screaming stopped.

Sophia watched in awe as the man's corporeal form was lost and he became nothing more than a black cloud of smoke just like she had in her shadow state. But unlike her own form which coalesced around a single point of her choosing, the man's gaseous dissipated into the sky like a cloud of smog being blown away by a gale. Within seconds there was nothing left to indicate that there had even been someone there. The only trace of the man's body were the faint droplets of blood that covered the brick wall.

"Now that was cool," Sophia said with a grin as her new appendage folded back in on itself. Sophia twisted herself around as she fully took in her new monstrous looking form. While it wasn't going to be winning any beauty pageants it was powerful. Far more powerful than the old Sophia had been. She was a new person, remade into a predator.

She had to let out a laugh at the realization that this was all Hebert's doing. She wasn't sure how, but the disk launcher was too similar to anything else but to be the same thing. Which meant that Hebert was so bad at trying to kill her opponents that she actually made them stronger instead. She was still going to murder Hebert for what she had done to her earlier, but the thought of Hebert making her own murder more powerful was still more than a little funny, and just a bit sad.

"Idiot," Sophia growled as she flexed her new muscles. Trying to talk felt a bit odd with the fangs popping out of her mouth, it made everything sound muffled, but that was hardly Sophia's first concern. Regardless of her new power, the PRT _would_ be hunting her down, if only so she didn't end up embarrassing them. And even with her new strength, there was no way that she would be able to take on the entire Protectorate at once.

 _ **Prey.**_

 _ **Hunt**_ _._

 _ **Kill.**_

 _Yeah,_ Sophia thought as her more basic instincts whispered to her. They were sweet and seductive, promising power and strength. She couldn't fight the Protectorate and expect to win even with her upgrades. So, she wouldn't fight them. She wouldn't play their little game where they put on a show or the clueless public to give the illusion of effectiveness.

She would _hunt_ them.

She would show the Protectorate that she wasn't some nobody that could be thrown into a cage and forgotten. She wasn't Hebert. She was strong and powerful, Hebert was a weak and loathsome creature that depended on the strengths of others like her minions. She was a pretender to true strength. Sophia was the real deal. She would show them what happens when you try to cage a predator. She would rip them apart like the mewling little prey that they were.

Oh yes, she would show them all.

* * *

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	5. Perspectives

**Enjoy!**

Perspectives

Taylor Hebert was bored.

Incredibly, completely and utterly bored.

Her head thumped against the sterile white wall as she made to count the number of ceiling tiles for what seemed like the dozenth time. It was virtually the only part of the cell that wasn't completely featureless. The stark white seamless walls looked more like an optical illusion than something real. They just looked too perfect and orderly.

The only breaks in this uniformity were the plated door that sealed her off from the rest of the world and the nozzles that dotted the ceiling. Even the bench she was sitting on could have been mistaken for part of the wall if one wasn't paying much attention. Really it was the lack of color that was more off-putting than anything else. The brightness of the walls was starting to hurt her eyes and for what seemed like the hundredth time she hoped that they finished up whatever background checks they were doing to confirm her story.

She supposed it was a blessing that she hadn't been left in that goopy stuff, nor had they put her in handcuffs. So, she supposed that was a good sign on their behalf. But that still did little to ease the dread and uncertainty twisting in her stomach. Dark thoughts that were better left unspoken floated through her head as she tried to pass the time.

She wished they had let her stay with her minions if only to allow herself some company, but they had stated that would be a security risk and promptly denied her request. It…frustrated her, but she could understand their reasoning. Leaving a Master with their minions would only be a recipe for trouble. So, she could understand why they were going out of their way to isolate her.

But that didn't make it any less irritating.

Being socially isolated for the past two years certainly gave her the experience and strength to keep her from bouncing off the walls, but this still was a less than enjoyable experience. The fact that she only had the word of the bureaucracy that they were doing everything in their power to sort this all out certainly didn't help.

Blackwell and the other Winslow administration had already failed her enough times that her faith in bureaucracy was already pretty strained. Words and promises meant little to her, not after so many had been broken or twisted for their own misuse. That little resentment had been stirring in her mind for some time now, and it had only been because of her Suukorak's urging before they got separated to keep a cool head that she didn't let that resentment boil over and consume her.

 _Are they ever going to finish?_ Taylor Hebert thought as she finished counting the tiles on the ceiling again. Not that any had been added to the twenty-two tiles, but it was literally the only thing she could be doing aside from pacing the room.

Just as the question wafted through her mind she heard a sharp click that drew her attention back to the sealed door. The door slid open with a permeated hiss as it collapsed into the wall. Taylor straightened up as a pair of PRT agents entered the room, foam sprayers at the ready. She wilted a little at the stern looks they were giving her, but the fact that she didn't see any outright hatred or disgust was a promising start.

She hoped.

"Taylor Hebert?" one of the guards asked with an indistinguishable expression.

Taylor couldn't help but twist her mouth a little at the question. Who else would she be? "Yes," she replied with a much stronger and firmer voice than she had a few hours ago. Much to her relief, the PRT had given her water and food during her stay, which certainly helped with the dehydration and hunger that she had been beset by the last few days.

"The Director wishes to speak with you," the same nameless PRT agent said as he moved aside to let her step through the door. Taylor quashed her eagerness to rush out the door and experience some fresh air and stretch her legs. Instead, she gave the PRT agents a calculated look as she considered what was being offered to her.

"Is my dad going to be there?" she asked cautiously. The thought of having to speak to another authority figure made her gut churn. She had never had much luck in convincing Blackwell to act on the bullying, so she wasn't exactly convinced she would be able to do the same with this Director. Having her dad present would certainly ease up the tension on her shoulders. Not to mention the fact that he was probably worried out of his mind after her being missing for the past three days.

A brief coil of panic ran down her spine at her father's reaction. He was sure to be relieved that she was alive and relatively well, but what else would he be feeling? Disappointment that this had all happened under his nose? Frustration that she had never tried to confide in him with her woes? What would he even say to her desire to be a hero?

 _I'll cross that bridge when the time comes,_ she thought with a sigh. There was no point in getting worked up over something that she wasn't going to be able to control. All she could do was wait for her father and hope for the best possible outcome.

There was a brief flash of irritation across the agents face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Taylor frowned as she considered what could have been irritating him. Was it the question itself or the fact that she had been asking a question at all? She was tempted to open her mouth again but figured it would probably be better to stay quiet for now.

"Yes," was all he said on the matter.

"Lead on Macduff," Taylor muttered under her breath as she was marched down the stark white corridor. She couldn't help but think of the Imperial March as the two troopers stepped up behind her, and for a brief moment, she was sorely tempted to start humming it out loud.

As they approached an elevator door near the end of the hallway Taylor caught sight of her minions in the corner of her eye. It was almost impossible to see through the door's tinted glass without stopping, but she managed to catch a glance of the Suukorak and Vohtarak in what appeared to be a heated debate.

Taylor bit her lip as she forced herself to march past the room. She felt a little bad about leaving her minions behind after all they had done to help her, but this wasn't the time or place for them. She didn't want to have to explain them to her dad on top of everything else. At least not yet. How would one even begin to tell their parent that they could now command a group of dog-sized sapient spiders that would do anything up to and including killing or committing suicide for you?

The thought gnawed on the edge of her mind as the doors to the elevator opened without a sound. She tried to keep her heart from leaping out of her chest as the two guards took up positions around her in case she tried anything funny. As the doors slide shut a dark and cynical thought caressed her mind.

 _Out of one cage and into another._

* * *

 _Earlier_

"I would very much like to know why one of my Wards is AWOL, why there's a new cape whose first act was to attack said Ward is in a holding cell, and why Janice Blackwell is requesting a meeting to 'explain things' as she put it. Would you care to explain what happened, _Colin_?"

Colin Wallis, better known to the public as Armsmaster, did his best not to flinch at the cold loathing in Director Piggot's question. It was a seemingly innocent and well-meaning question in the face of what had just happened, but he could feel the undertone of cold anger as Piggot glared at him as if he was a worm that had crawled into her office. He wasn't usually intimidated by the woman's threats, but with everything that had occurred, he allowed himself the weakness of tightening pinching his jaw closed into an expression of distaste. The unhealthy-looking Director seemed to present an aura of anger and contempt over the entire situation, and he couldn't find himself blaming her.

This _was_ a disaster.

"I responded to call from Sophia Hess regarding an attack by an unknown parahuman at Winslow High," Armsmaster started as he quashed a sliver of amusement at the brief twitch around Piggot's eyes. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was so concerned about. The PRT and Protectorate had always known that Winslow was at the bottom rung of the education system in Brockton Bay, and perhaps even below that. It was a festering boil on the city where all the gangs made their teenage recruitments in preparation for the next generation of criminals.

It burned Armsmaster to let the gangs have such unilateral control over the younger and more impressionable members of society, but the PRT and Protectorate just didn't have enough resources to weed them out. Winslow was in a pit that would take far more effort and resources to drag them out of instead of merely dealing with the issues as the cropped up. Armsmaster knew that Piggot had pushed the education administration for far more of the Ward program's funding to be placed into the security of Arcadia to ensure the protection of the Wards than Winslow. As such the school had fallen to the wayside of the PRT's radar, with only reports from Shadow Stalker and her handler to fill them in on the situation.

 _Something we'll need to rectify,_ he thought with a small grunt.

The Tinker supposed that it was mere luck that this attack had been relatively harmless and resolved fairly quickly. If the next parahuman wasn't nearly as accommodating or reasonable as Ms. Hebert they could find themselves with a bloodbath on their hands. Dashing such unsavory thoughts out of his head Armsmaster focused on delivering his report.

"After mobilizing for a confrontation with an unknown parahuman I attempted to reestablish communication with Sophia Hess in order to more thoroughly ascertain the situation," he said as he kept his voice even and level. It wouldn't do him much good to express his frustration of being forced to walk through these events with the Director when he could be doing something to fix them.

"And this it when you came into contact with the recent trigger?" Piggot asked with a raised eyebrow as she eyed a transcript recording of their conversation. Armsmaster had to bit the inside of his lip to keep himself from frowning. Triggering was something that all parahumans could understand, no matter their allegiance. It was the point that they were pushed to their lowest, and then even farther. They were broken and shattered and left to pick up the pieces with powers they couldn't comprehend. It was something that non-parahumans just couldn't understand, and to hear Piggot speak of the Triggering of a teenager with such blasé was angering.

"You are correct," Armsmaster said curtly as he tried to keep control of his reaction.

"And you chose to risk compromising yourself to a potential human controlling Master and enter negotiations with said parahuman." Her statement wasn't worded as a question, but Armsmaster could feel the questioning intent rolling off of it like waves. He had to grit his teeth at the near reproachful look that Piggot was giving him, despite the fact that there was no way he could have known that the person who answered the phone was the very parahuman he had arrived to deal with.

"While I was not aware of her status as a parahuman at the time, she was reasonable and coherent, which is more than I could say for some triggers." Armsmaster grimaced at the reminder of some particularly bad trigger events that had left dozens wounded. Compared to those this one was positively mild. "I attempted to threaten her into compliance when she revealed her identity as the attacker to me, but she revealed some information that forced me to reconsider the situation."

"This claim being that Hess made her trigger?" Piggot asked, remaining expressionless as she steepled her fingers in thought.

"Correct. And given Hess' escape from PRT custody in addition to her phone's contents we can assume that she was speaking the truth," Armsmaster said. He tried not to take much pleasure in Piggot's angry twitch as the mention of Sophia's escape. While the PRT and Protectorate tried to play the united front up for the public, there was still a strong divide between the two groups. PRT agents would try to upstage the Protectorate forces, who in turn would remind them why unpowered individuals shouldn't be involved in cape fights. He usually wasn't one to engage in petty rivalries, but seeing a brief break in Piggot's composure was amusing. The fact that it had been on the PRT's watch that Sophia had managed to escape was something that wouldn't sit well with Piggot.

"Do we have any leads on her whereabouts?" Piggot asked, drawing the attention of the conversation away from the cause of Sophia's break out.

"No. It's likely she's going to be laying low for the time being. I've ordered some agents to guard the Hess' apartment building in case she tries to come back and have informed Ms. Hess as to the situation that her daughter was in. She seemed…less than surprised," Armsmaster said as he tried to keep his frustration about Sophia's disappearance out of his tone. He had witnessed first-hand the anguish in anguish in the woman's eyes to the knowledge of what her daughter had been allegedly doing, but at the same time, there was acceptance. As if the entire situation wasn't something completely out of the blue. It only rankled Armsmaster even more that the PRT and Protectorate had been so blind to Sophia's habits. Even if she hadn't been doing then during the background check, there should have been enough evidence of her prior actions that the investigators would have found.

Even as something as simple as an allegation of bullying and bad behavior would have been enough for them to take a closer look. The Youth Guard liked to limit the PRT and Protectorate's ability to interfere with Ward civilian lives, but their endeavors allowed activities like this to slip through the cracks. Armsmaster could recall in the early days when a Protectorate branch had been forced to hush up the fact that one of their Wards had been dealing drugs on the side and they had been none the wiser. Fortunately, nobody had been harmed and the Ward had managed to get out on a plea deal with how little product he had pushed. But the Protectorate had its hands tied in even trying to investigate the Ward's civilian identity because of Youth Guard policy without direct evidence linking them to the alleged crimes.

After that, the Youth Guard had agreed to release some the restrictions in the form of handlers in order to keep a better eye on them in their civilian life, but even that was limited. It was obvious that Hess's handler played a part in this cover up, but that didn't negate the fact that the system itself was still flawed. Armsmaster had to wonder if something like this could be used to bring the Youth Guard to the table and revaluate some of those strategies.

"We'll need to keep this out of the media," Piggot said as a concerned frown marred her features. "The last thing we need is the public thinking we can't control as single Ward."

Armsmaster wanted to point out that was exactly what had happened but bit his tongue instead. Too many cheap shots and this conversation could descend into an all-out argument, which was not something they needed at this point. He could already see that the Director was nearing the limit of her patience, and he hadn't even gotten through most of his report.

"The PRT agents that know have already signed NDA forms swearing to secrecy on the matter for the time being. That still leaves the faculty for Winslow unaccounted for," Armsmaster warned. Piggot waved her hand dismissively.

"The only way Blackwell would let this out is if she broke her NDA of Sophia's identity. She knows better than to do that. But still, I will be having words with her," Piggot said as she ground her teeth together. Frankly, Armsmaster found her anger towards the situation rather justified. Even if the PRT had been a little lax in regard to Sophia's oversight the school should have known better than to keep something like this quiet. For all, they knew Sophia could have been Mastered and there would have been no way for them to know. Armsmaster doubted that was the case here, but it still painted an ugly picture. What if Arcadia or Brockton Middle school were refusing to lend out information on their Ward's wrongdoings? He knew that the other Wards were good kids, but it was still a concerning idea.

"We'll need to question Sophia's handler as well. I find it unlikely that she wasn't somehow involved in this coverup, even if it was just from incompetence," Armsmaster added, eliciting an angry twitch from the Director. The way her hands curled into fists told him all he would need to know about that particular conversation. For all of the Director's bluntness, she didn't ask for too much from her subordinate. The fact that this handler had betrayed the Director's trust by not reporting any of these previous outbursts of violence was more than enough to anger the Director.

He could understand if Blackwell had been covering for Sophia and the Ward's handler simply didn't realize what was going on, but the apparent differences between Ward Sophia and civilian Sophia should have set off some warning bells. He had been rereading the reports that Blackwell gave them on the girl's behavior and found they might as well have been talking about someone else. Sophia's attitude during her tenure as a Ward was aggressive and violent. Even before that, she had shot a gang member to a wall and apparently saw nothing wrong with that. Did the handler really believe that Sophia acting completely out of her known character in school was normal?

Armsmaster wasn't entirely sure if Sophia's handler had been intentionally covering up for the Ward's previous behavior or was simply not good at her job. Honestly, he didn't care that much either way, because the result was the same, a Ward was AWOL and a civilian had triggered. He knew some of the blame rested on his shoulders for not keeping a closer eye on the girl, but he had too much work to do to spend every waking minute watching a group of hormonal teenagers.

"That's something we'll have to deal with later. Now, the Hebert girl," Piggot said, drawing the focus of the conversation back to the recent trigger. A video screen on the wall slid open to reveal a live feed to the girl's temporary containment cell where she seemed to be trying to alleviate her boredom. Armsmaster couldn't blame her for that, those cells were perhaps the closest things to hell on earth, particularly for Tinkers. Another monitor opened to reveal her minions clambering up the walls as if searching for a way out. "What are her capabilities?"

"I'd rate her Master 6 at a minimum from what we know," Armsmaster said as he drew his gaze away from the spider-like creatures. He couldn't quite shake the feeling that they knew exactly where the camera was given how one of them kept on hiding in the camera's blind spot. The Tinker made an electronic note reminding him to go back and see about getting that fixed later. "Perhaps 7 or 8 depending on how many she can command and what their exact capabilities are."

"And what do we know so far?" Piggot asked, her expression twisted into one of distaste. Armsmaster couldn't figure out if it was because they didn't have all the information or because of the cape herself.

"Each creature is probably in the range of Brute 3 or 4 if that carapace is as tough as it looks. Mover 1 for being able to climb the walls. Blaster 5—"

"5?" Piggot asked with a raised eyebrow. While Blaster 5 wasn't exactly the cream of the crop in regards to parahuman powers, it wasn't weak either. The fact that each spider presumably had that capability that meant that Hebert could have some significant firepower on her hands.

"Possibly 6 given the varied nature that we've witnessed so far," Armsmaster added, as he tried to keep his frustration of being interrupted in check. "While we haven't confirmed it, I suspect that the electrical cage that we found Hess in is the result of one of those projectiles. Witnesses claim that one student who had been struck by said projectiles was completely paralyzed for a time."

"She attacked another student?" Piggot asked, her eyes lighting up like a starving hawk that had spotted a rabbit. Armsmaster paused as he considered his next words carefully. He knew that the Director had quite the stigma against capes. While she kept, it hidden well, it was rather obvious when one looked for it. He didn't want to risk tainting her view of a traumatized teenager before they even met in person even more than it already was.

"I suspect that it was an accident. She has shown no desire to harm any others aside from Hess and Ms. Barnes, and even then, she was only trying to restrain them. I believe that during her capture of Hess her creatures may have misfired. Unfortunately, the accounts of the events are conflicting and confused," Armsmaster admitted.

"Even if it was an accident that still a point of leverage we can use against her," Piggot said as her face twisted in deep thought. Armsmaster had to admit to himself that trying to leverage a teenage girl who had been bullied to the point of triggering by one under his care made his stomach churn. At the same time, he knew that they couldn't afford to let capes slip through their grasp into the seedy underbelly of the city.

"Beyond that, anything else is speculation unless we send her through power testing. We have evidence that some sort of extremely potent acid was used to melt part of a door away, but nothing concrete," Armsmaster said.

"You seem to be under the impression that she'll be joining us," Piggot said, her face expressionless. Armsmaster nodded his head in agreement.

"So far she's shown nothing but cooperation with us. And considering that one of the individuals that caused her to trigger was working under our supervision I'd say that's nothing less than a miracle," he admitted. He had no idea how Hebert could possibly still be willing to cooperate with them given her circumstances. He knew far too many capes who would have scoffed at the idea, and they hadn't been triggered by a _Ward._

"Perhaps," Piggot said noncommittally as she stared at the monitors. Armsmaster had to bite back his frustration once again. He knew that Piggot wasn't the most diplomatic of people, and would likely take a more head-on and blunt approach in dealing with the girl's recruitment. He knew that nothing he could say would dissuade the woman from this method, so all he would be able to do was perform damage control and hope for the best.

"We've already contacted her father and he's on his way here," Armsmaster warned in case Piggot had any ideas about speaking to the girl before her adult guardian had arrived. Judging by the narrow look in her eyes that had been exactly what she had been thinking. While negotiating a contract with a cape minor without their legal guardians was illegal, having a "conversation" with them wasn't. "He seemed to be extremely relieved that we had found his daughter after her being missing for the weekend."

"I see," Piggot said neutrally in an attempt to hide her disappointment. Armsmaster didn't feel too bad for undermining the Director's power play like that. If anything, it would only benefit them. Allowing the girl the comfort of her father might let her relax a bit when the negotiation started. He knew that Piggot hated giving concessions to parahumans, but her bull-headedness would only worsen the situation if she was allowed free reign.

"Then what should I be expecting?" Piggot asked as she leaned back in her seat. Armsmaster could tell that her mind was racing a mile a minute as she considered her options.

"I don't know much, but given Sophia's bullying—" Armsmaster started, only to be interrupted by Piggot yet again, much to his growing chagrin.

"You seem confident that she's telling the truth about that. How do you know that it isn't a lie to make you sympathize with her?" The woman asked, her eyes darkening with a cynicism that came from years of trying to curb the criminal element. Armsmaster did have to grit his teeth at the subtle blow to his judgment in the matter, but he tried to keep himself calm.

"The evidence that she presented to us is rather convincing." The claw marks that they had found on the inside of the door had been more than enough to convince him that she had been trapped in there for some time. At Piggot's skeptical gaze he added, "Sophia's phone shows no signs of tampering and her reaction in the recorded video fits our profile of her. If it is a ploy then it's not one that we'll be able to easily dismiss. The fact that Sophia also escaped her containment suggest that at the very least part of it is true."

Piggot hummed. "I suppose it doesn't really matter if it's true or not."

"Director?" Armsmaster questioned, not entirely understanding what she meant.

"As you said, if this is a deception on her part then it's not something that we'll be able to easily refute given the evidence that she's presented to you. If she went to the media and explained everything then we could be looking at a huge PR scandal," Piggot said, her lips twisting in distaste. Armsmaster knew she was right of course, but he had been so focused on the possibility of a PRT agent or Winslow faculty member spilling the beans that he had forgotten that Hebert could go to the news as well.

"This only highlights the importance of being diplomatic," Armsmaster said, earning a light glare from the portly looking woman. He knew she didn't like being called out on her failings (who did), but refusing to acknowledge them for something this important would be catastrophic. After a moment, her glare lessened and she seemed to focus back on the situation.

"As you were saying?"

Armsmaster cleared his throat to start again. "Yes, well given that she's been bullied to the point of triggering and the Winslow administration has apparently turned a blind eye towards Sophia's actions, she probably doesn't have the best view of authority figures. I suspect that she's going to be suspicious of anything you say until you back it up with actions."

"More carrot than stick then?" Piggot asked with no small amount of distaste. He knew that the woman liked to be in control of the situation, and he was basically asking her to give power to Hebert. She would have to fulfill some of the girl's requests if she was going to come to their side.

"Yes. I don't know about her father, but given that he's the head of hiring at the Dockworker's Union he's going to be rather sharp," Armsmaster added. He hadn't interacted with the Dockworkers much but he knew them by reputation as one of the least corrupt organizations in the Bay. None of the gangs could get any significant pull with the group, and he sincerely doubted that was because they were idiots.

"Lovely," Piggot moaned, and for a moment Armsmaster felt sorry for her. Even if they got Hebert on board without complaint, the local PRT and Protectorate were still going to have a black mark against them for this, even if only behind closed doors. While most of his time was spent working in the field or his lab he was forced to engage with politics on occasion. He might be willing to fight Lung, but politic was a much more dangerous beast to grabble with. He didn't envy Piggot's position at all. She was trapped in a cage of the PRT's making though, so he didn't feel _too_ sorry for her.

A knock on the door drew their attention away from their musings as a PRT agent slipped through. "Daniel Hebert his here."

Armsmaster could practically feel the frustration rolling off Piggot by now. Not only was she being put into a situation she couldn't control, she also had little to no time to prepare for the coming conversation.

"Very well, bring him and the girl up," Piggot said through clenched teeth. The PRT agent scurried off, clearly not enthused with the idea of facing his boss' wrath first hand. As the agent scampered away Armsmaster turned his attention back to Piggot. Despite her slightly off color skin the woman still managed to project an image of strength and certainty and looked like she was ready to fight to the death.

A pity that what was about to happen wasn't as easy as that.

* * *

 _"Why are we still here?"_ the Vohtarak asked once again. Its fang's clicked together in agitation as it scurried up and down the walls, occasionally ramming itself against them to no effect. _"We should tear down these walls and show these false Toa the power of the Horde."_

The Suukorak had to suppress an irritated sigh at its fellow Visorak's impatience and single-minded intent. He could appreciate the desire and will to go fight for the Queen, they all did. But the Vohtarak's shortsightedness would only get them all killed. It couldn't see past the fact that they were separated from their Queen to see that they were in the middle of an enemy base. Even if they did get out of this room they would have to fight their way through the false Toa.

Not that the Suukorak wouldn't do that if he thought for an instant the Queen was in danger. But the Queen had insisted that they wouldn't do anything detrimental to her life and ordered them to cooperate. And when the Queen ordered the Visorak listened.

Still, even the Suukorak had to admit that he was getting a little antsy. Visorak didn't do well in enclosed environments with their fellows. They tended to start descending into cannibalism.

 _"Then perhaps you should cease your whining and do something productive,"_ the Boggarak hissed irately, clearly just as fed up with the Vohtarak's words as he was. The blue Visorak remained in the corner of the room, just below where the false Toa had a sight stone placed. Suukorak didn't really see the point in trying to hide when the false Toa already knew they were there. Better to let them think they were complacent and weak for the time being.

The only reason they hadn't ripped the corrupted false Toa apart piece by piece was because the Queen told them not to. They would have done the same to the other false Toa, but once again the Queen had demanded that they hold back their true strength for the time being.

 _"And what have you done? Sitting in that corner like a coward,"_ The Keelerak hissed as it bumped into another wall. Losing his depth perception had certainly hindered the Visorak's maneuverability, but he still possessed a strong fighting spirit. The blood caked eye glared at the relatively passive Boggarak who took the insult in stride.

 _"At least I was not left half blinded by a corrupted false Toa. And a weak one that that,"_ the Boggarak shot back with equal amounts frustration and amusement at the Keelerak's sputtering rage. The Suukorak joined in the amused chuckles at the Keelerak's expense as it tried to explain itself.

 _"Urg! Let's just break down the door and be done with it,"_ the Vohtarak screamed, clearly fed up with the entire situation. The Suukorak chittered disappointedly at the hot headed Visorak. So eager to help that he couldn't see that he was doing more harm than good.

 _"Your impatience risks the very safety of the Queen,"_ the Suukorak reprimanded, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt. Every single one of his brethren turned to him, even the previously silent Oohnorak and Roporak. A silent tension hung in the air as the blazing eyes of the Vohtarak glared at him.

 _"You dare question my loyalty to the Queen!"_ The Vohtarak screeched in anger and rage. It was in moments like this that the Suukorak understood why the Vohtarak were mistaken to be beings of the fire and flames. They were quick to enrage, like poking a slumbering Kanohi Dragon to see it spit fire for the first time in millennia.

 _"I do not question the loyalty of your intent, but your reckless actions will only bring danger upon our Queen,"_ the Suukorak explained calmly, even when face to face with the nigh unquenchable rage of his fellow Visorak. Quiet muttering broke out among the other Visorak as they considered his words. The Vohtarak remained oddly silent for one with his temper, but there was a heated debate going on behind those eyes of his. Despite the derision his breed had for theirs, they knew that they weren't stupid. Quick to anger and thick headed, but hardly dumb.

 _"Explain,"_ the Vohtarak said. Not quite and order and not quite a question either. There was an almost apprehensiveness to his words as if he was considering what was being told to him for the first time. It certainly wouldn't be surprising if it was. Most Visorak knew how to hunt and kill, but not too many of them had critical thinking skills anymore, at least not for such complex problems as this. And if they did possess such abilities they weren't very good at using them.

There was a reason that the Visorak had never successfully rebelled against their former masters.

For all his idiocy and foolishness Sidorak's Rhotuka of Loyalty quelled any chance for rebellion and Roodaka was far too smart and cunning to be brought down by them. And they were nothing compared to Makuta's devious mind and unmatched power. The Suukorak shivered in remembrance of that being, the cold empty feeling that he left behind all who he interacted with was something that one could not simply forget, not matter how many centuries it had been.

Though perhaps it spoke something of the magnitude of power their former masters wielded that the Visorak had never successfully rebelled rather than any failing of their own. But none of that mattered anymore because they had the Queen to guide and lead them as she saw fit.

 _"Your actions will only bring suspicion upon the Queen. She is attempting to negotiate her freedom with these false Toa. And though they are not the Toa of old, they still hold power over us. If they believe that we are attempting to escape while the Queen is negotiating in good faith then they will enact harm upon her to halt our progress,"_ the Suukorak explained, drawing a short and thoughtful nod from his Roporak companion. Out of all of them, the Roporak was the most patient, perhaps even more than he was. It's kind could wait for days before moving, blending into the rock and background to become all but invisible. If any one of his brethren could see the wisdom in his words then it would be him.

He could see the Boggarak and Oohnorak nodding in agreement with him. But for the latter, its agreement probably had more to do with the fact the Queen had listened to his advice before more than anything. Oohnorak didn't have much in terms of independent thoughts, so long as he convinced them that they were working with the exact will of the Queen they would listen to his words.

 _"…And should these false Toa betray the Queen? If your actions lead the Queen into even more danger what shall we do?"_ The Vohtarak questioned with a challenging edge to his voice. The Suukorak could feel a brief ember of anger burn in his carapace at the insinuation that any of his actions might place the Queen in danger.

 _"Then we will carve our way to her through the bodies of however many false Toa and Matoran they put in our path,"_ The Suukorak said with the same zeal and fervor pitch that all Visorak could understand when it came to protecting the Queen of the Horde. _"We shall not allow our Queen to be placed in danger, but we must also consider that we ourselves are not the ones putting her in danger."_

The rest of the Visorak seemed to mull over his words, even the normally brash Vohtarak seemed relatively mollified.

 _"So, you would have use wait in this cage while our Queen is out there?"_ the Keelerak asked, shoving the Vohtarak aside earning a sharp hiss from the red shelled Visorak, but the Keelerak didn't seem to care much. The Suukorak gave the belligerent one-eyed Keelerak a short glare.

 _"Did the Queen not order us to comply with these false Toa? Are you implying that you wish to defy the will of the Queen herself?"_

The Keelerak didn't say anything after that. Instead, it slunk back into the shadows of the room to glower in anger. The Suukorak knew that they were all loyal to the Queen, to the point that they would fight and die for her without question. But they all had different ideas about how such loyalty should be enacted.

The Suukorak knew that the Vohtarak wasn't exactly wrong with its reasoning. The Visorak would eventually have to make a stand against the enemies of the Queen if only to reveal to them the consequences of attacking the Queen. Without that understanding, the Queen would be far weaker than she could be, and much more open to an attack. The Queen would need to learn that sometimes leniency, like the kind that she gave the corrupted false Toa, would only harm he in the end.

The Visorak became one of the most fear foot soldiers for the Brotherhood because of their ruthless nature. None aside from fools and Toa dared to stand against them. The Queen needed to learn how such a reputation would be able to benefit her. The Visorak were utterly loyal to the Queen in all the things she did but –

Weak Queens died in cruel worlds.

* * *

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	6. Venom

**Enjoy!**

Venom

"Taylor!"

"Dad-umf!" Taylor could feel the air rush out of her lungs as her dad wrapped his arms around her in a massive bear hug. She could feel his relieved breath brush against her oily hair as grateful tears ran down his face. Taylor could feel that her own face wasn't as dry as she hoped.

"I was so worried about you," her dad whispered to her, clutching her like a lifeline, as if he let go for a single moment she would disappear. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she was pressed up against him. It was a little tight, but after three days of not being sure that she would be able to see him again, she wasn't going to complain. Her father's voice his shaky despite his relief as if he couldn't quite believe this is happening. She couldn't blame him, being lost for three days in Brockton Bay usually meant you were dead if you were lucky.

"I…I thought I was never going to see you again," Danny Hebert said as he squeezed the breath out of her once more. Taylor couldn't keep her own breath from catching in her throat as she tried to speak.

"M-me too," she said. Taylor wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, just hugging each other in open relief, but she didn't really care. At this moment nothing else mattered, not the PRT, Hess or even her powers. An Endbringer could smash into the building this very instant and scour the city from the surface and she wouldn't care. Nothing was going to interrupt this.

That was of course when someone did decide to interrupt the moment. A coughing sound caught the Hebert's attention, drawing them out of their own little world. Taylor couldn't quite keep the irritation off her face as she turned to the blue-clad hero she had met a few hours before. Despite being one of the most premier heroes in the city that didn't stop her from giving him a glare for his interruption. Though if he was phased by it at all he didn't show it.

"What?" her father asked, an irritated growl rushing up from the back of his throat. He was being civil, but only just so. Taylor could tell that her father looked like he wanted to tell Armsmaster to shove off and was only keeping his mouth shut because the man was a hero.

"I understand that this isn't the best time, but the Director wishes to meet with you and your daughter in order to sort out this situation," Armsmaster said, remaining calm even in the face of an angry parent. Though from the way that his hands clenched up a bit he understood exactly what he was getting into. Getting in-between a parent and their child was not something that most rational people would attempt to do.

"What situation?" her dad asked, his eyes narrowing in contemplation as he considered the blue armored hero before him. She could see his mind whirring away behind his calculating eyes as he considered their current company. "Why is she here with the PRT instead of the police?"

"I have powers," Taylor wasn't sure why she had blurted that out without a second thought. She had been hoping to ease her dad into the weirdness that was no her life but instead it appeared that she had just pushed him off the proverbial cliff without a parachute. She winced a little at the wide-eyed look of incomprehension he gave her as his head whipped so fast she feared he might have gotten whiplash.

"What?" Taylor struggled to come up with a coherent answer to her dad's well-justified question, but all that came out was a series of stutters. The sheer intensity of his expression was concerning and just a little be frightening. Fortunately for her, Armsmaster came to the rescue.

"Mr. Hebert, I can understand that you're confused but if you could just bear with me for a few minutes I can answer most of your questions if you and your daughter come sit with the Director," Armsmaster said with a particularly diplomatic tone. Taylor could see that her dad wanted to push forward for more information but was forcing himself to calm down.

"Alright," he said after a long minute of contemplation.

* * *

Director Piggot…was not what Taylor had been expecting. She had seen the woman a few times during PRT interviews that she happened upon, but there was always a certain disconnect between the woman on the screen and the idea that she was in command of the local PRT. She was a sickly-looking woman with a portly body. She didn't look at all like the PRT agents who always seemed to be the embodiment of fitness in the fight against the gangs. She looked more like a bureaucrat that anything else.

But there was a tenseness in her posture that made Taylor reassess her, a certain alertness that made her skin break out into goosebumps. Her expression seemed to be etched into the permanent scowl and there was a glint in her eyes that made Taylor think of Sophia. That comparison did little to improve the Director's standing with her.

Though she remained virtually silent throughout Armsmaster's explanation of the events Taylor could feel the woman's eyes watching her like a hawk. The young teen tried to not squirm under the oppressive gaze of the Director as she focused on her father. From the slowly forming scowl, he wasn't enjoying this anymore that she was, but his eyes remained alert and focused and Taylor was reminded why her dad was the driving force behind the Dockworker's Union.

"So, let me get this straight," he said in a slow deliberate tone. Armsmaster had finished his explanation a minute ago and her father had remained contemplatively silent as he digested the information. She could feel the heat forming in his words as he shifted himself into a more combative position. Despite the fact that his ire wasn't being directed at her Taylor couldn't help but shift in her seat and try to ease away.

"You recruited a teenager that you knew had issues and then proceeded to allow her free reign over her school without any supervision?" he asked, anger flowing from his speech as if it was a volcano. His hands had wrapped around the chair's armrest as where squeezing them with all their might. Taylor could see the _rage_ in her father's eyes, so intense that it was like staring into a star.

Though frightening, it was heartwarming that he was so angry because of what happened to her.

"I case you weren't listening Mr. Hebert, we did place Sophia Hess under limited surveillance," Director Piggot said. If her dad's words were molten rock then Piggot's were the arctic winds. The coldness and near derision of her tone were almost suffocating. Taylor could tell that she was trying to throw her dad on the back foot, just like Blackwell had done to her time and time again. But instead of blowing up in rage, her dad gave the woman an unfriendly smile that would have made one of her Visorak think twice before attacking.

"And yet she was able to get away with this. Makes me wonder how competent the PRT really is," he said, drawing a dark look from the Director. Taylor couldn't imagine that the woman would take to well to having her competence questioned, but she thought it was a fair assessment of the situation. If they had kept Hess on a tighter leash none of this would have happened and they wouldn't be having this conversation.

"The fact that you're trying to put us on the defensive only shows how weak your hand is," her dad said, leaning back in his chair in an almost relaxed manner. She might have bought it too if she couldn't see the anger in his eyes of the pulsing of his veins. He was beyond furious and was taking it out on the Director. Taylor wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"If I wanted to, I could charge her with assault and unlawful restraint," Piggot said, her voice as cool as ice as she folded her hands. Taylor felt her face glow with anger at the thought of being charged with a crime because the PRT couldn't do their job properly. She was about to open her mouth with her opinion on the matter, but her dad beat her to the punch with a snort.

"Please, we both know you wouldn't do that," he said with a savage grin.

"Oh really?" Piggot asked with a pinched look. Her dad, on the other hand, looked like the cat that ate the canary.

"I don't doubt that you have the best lawyers available and a lot more power than I do, but you also have a lot more to lose. If it got out that the PRT was suing a bullied teenager girl for defending herself from her attackers then you would be the laughing stock of the evening news," her dad said with a grin. It was almost fascinating to watch the Director's somewhat yellow skin take on a dark red, almost like a tomato about to pop.

"Mr. Hebert, we're not trying to threaten or coerce your daughter," Armsmaster said, interjecting himself into the conversation. Piggot gave the hero a dark look but didn't comment as the man took the reins of the conversation. "We only wish to ensure that she remains safe."

"Really? I didn't realize that threatening a minor with jail time for defending herself was how you kept someone safe," her dad said with a near sneer in his voice.

"Please understand that these events are just as a shock for us as they are for you," Armsmaster said in a clearly placating gesture to calm her dad down.

"How?"

Everyone in the room turned their gaze towards Taylor as she tried to avoid fidgeting in her seat. She steeled her resolve and looked at Armsmaster right in the visor. "How could you not know about Sophia?"

"While we do have the authority for some monitoring of our Wards, particularly probationary Wards the system isn't perfect and we can't watch them all the time," Armsmaster said, earning a brief snort from Danny which he ignored. "We have to trust that the teachers and parents in their lives will bring anything important to our notice."

"And that turned out quite well, didn't it?" her dad asked. Despite her anger at the entire situation, Taylor couldn't bring herself to actually be angry with Armsmaster's explanation. He seemed to be just as much a victim of this deception on Sophia's part as she was. But that still didn't negate her frustration that this entire situation could have been avoided if the PRT had just been a little more attentive.

"Sophia's handler will be questioned to determine her complicity in these events, as will Blackwell," Piggot said, bring the focus of the conversation back to her. "But in an event, it's obvious that we placed too much faith in others, this is an error that _will_ be rectified."

"That doesn't change what happened to me," Taylor said, a tinge of anger entering her tone. She couldn't quite suppress a shiver as her mind flashed back to that room, the intense heat boiling off every wall as sweat trickled down her forehead.

A squeeze on her hand brought her out of her thoughts. She sent a grateful look to her dad, who looked just as shaken up as she was.

"No, it doesn't," Piggot agreed with a nod.

"Rest assured once Sophia Hess is back in custody she will be charged," Armsmaster said. Taylor felt a wave of relief wash over her at the knowledge that Sophia was going to finally answer for her actions. But the relief was short-lived once she processed all of what Armsmaster said.

"What do you mean back in custody?" she asked, slowly and cautiously.

"Armsmaster," Piggot growled in warning, sending the Tinker a dark look. But instead of cowing like she would have done the Protectorate hero forged on ahead, despite his superior's obvious anger.

"During her transport to PRT headquarters, Sophia Hess managed to escape from PRT custody and is currently on the run," Armsmaster explained. Taylor could feel the sweet taste of victory crumble to ash in her mouth at that news. Her arms trembled in anger as she barely kept herself from screaming out in rage. After all that Sophia was still getting away from punishment?

"I see the PRT is keeping the tradition of their effectiveness," her dad said with a glower. It was obvious that he was just as angry at this situation as she was, and was only just keeping himself from screaming Director Piggot out.

The Director herself looked just as upset as any of them, though her anger was directed more towards her subordinate than anything else. She did spare a brief glare toward her dad, but all in all the Director just seemed to be exhausted.

"Let's cut to the chase, what is it you want with my daughter? You didn't have to tell us anything about Hess' escape or anything else for that matter," her dad asked as he leaned back in his seat. Piggot and Armsmaster seemed to share a brief glance with one another before the Tinker spoke up.

"We're hoping that your daughter would be willing to join the Wards."

* * *

The next hour or so was all a blur to Taylor, too caught up in the idea of being a Ward to really focus on anything else. Everything else just seemed so trivial in comparison. Her dad and Director Piggot kept up with their little power plays, but at this point, she could have cared less.

Being a Ward…that would allow her to fulfill her childhood dream of being a hero. She could make a real difference that ordinary Taylor Hebert never could.

 _Sophia was a Ward too,_ the treacherous voice in the back of her mind taunted. It was a dark and unwelcome thought in the face of her joy, but it was nonetheless true. Sophia had been a Ward and had been lauded as a hero of the people. That was something she wasn't sure she was going to get over for some time.

"Taylor?"

The teen parahuman shook off her musings to look up to her father. He had a worried look plastered on his face as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The physical feeling was a welcome sensation after three days in isolation. They had been granted access to an isolated meeting room to discuss the offer in privacy.

"I've been looking over the paperwork they gave us," he said, setting said papers aside to focus on her. The stack was monstrous looking, almost three inches thick from top to bottom. It was more akin to a solid block than a legal contract.

"And?" she asked, not quite keeping the hope of being a hero out of her voice. Her dad didn't say anything for a while, instead closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. Despite the front that he had put up for Piggot, Taylor could see the bags under her father's eyes, the redness that had nearly overtaken them. How long did he stay awake, huddling by the phone, waiting for the police to call back? Taylor felt another wave of anger pass over her as her fury towards Sophia rekindled once more.

"I— These last few days that you were missing were…difficult for me," the admittance was a slow thing, like trying to move a glacier with a toothpick. The immeasurable weight of his words washed over Taylor like a miasma of negatively as she watched the vitality ebb from his form.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he said, the words barely a whisper. Taylor swallowed as she watched the strong front her father had put up crumble underneath the weight of everything that was happening. He looked utterly out of depth with this situation.

"But if I'm a Ward I'll get training, protection," Taylor said, not quite keeping her anger out of her voice with the realization that she would be getting the same "protection" that Hess had had. "I'll be safe-"

"And if you fight Hookwolf!" her father shouted, rising up from his seat in a fury of motion. Taylor stumbled back as he loomed over her, an inescapable weight of anger and desperation that muted her in an instant. "Or Lung! Will you be safe then!?"

"Will I be safe hiding in a hole, waiting for a villain to come take me away?" Taylor shot back, not allowing herself to be completely cowed into submission. She understood why her dad was so upset and worried about her, but she was never going to be safe again, not really.

She had written an essay about independent capes for her parahuman studies class (an essay that Emma and Sophia stole from her) and she knew that the success rate for independents was very low. The official Protectorate page said they typically didn't last more than six months, but she had found some other articles that pointed out a lot of that was due to Endbringer fights rather than gangs and the like. Still, it did paint a pretty bleak picture for those who tried to go out on their own.

The only major independent group in the city was New Wave and she doubted they were recruiting. Even if they were that would mean that she would have to give up her identity to the public and put her father at risk. That wasn't happening.

"If I join the Ward's I'll get protection," Taylor said, let her hand come to rest over her father's. She gave him a tight squeeze to soothe this anger and frustration. "I'll be safer than if I went out on my own."

"And you'll be okay working alongside the same people Hess did?"

That…that was a good question. Taylor swallowed nervously as she considered the implication. Piggot and Armsmaster had assured her that none of the other Wards had known about Sophia's abuse, but that didn't make everything better. She had still suffered while Sophia had been a Ward, and short of time travel nothing was going to change that. Could she really work alongside the same people Sophia did?

"I don't think I should blame them for what Sophia did," Taylor said, slowly and carefully as she considered her words. She wasn't sure if she could be friends with them, but that didn't mean that she should blame them for something they didn't know about. Assuming that Piggot and Armsmaster were telling the truth about them not knowing.

Her dad seemed to sigh, and she could see his mind racing furiously behind his glasses as he considered their options. After a long time, he seemed to slump in defeat. "Alright, but I have a few conditions."

Taylor tried to keep herself from whooping in joy at her dad's affirmation but instead nodded as he listed his conditions.

"I expect to be kept in the loop, I don't want to find out from the news that my daughter got into a fight with the Empire, I want to hear it from you," he said, earning a sharp nod of agreement from Taylor. It wasn't like she was going to try to keep things from him, but after such a long time without any true communication between them, she could understand that he wanted to keep a closer eye on her. It rankled somewhat that he didn't trust that she was already going to do that, but she kept her mouth shut.

If her dad saw her irritation he didn't show it, instead listing off his next condition. "If I think something or someone is too dangerous for you to involve yourself with, I don't want you to."

"But—"

"No, Taylor," her dad said, cutting her off with a flash of anger. "I don't want you fighting an Endbringer or anything like that! You're already going to be in enough danger as it is!"

 _Yes, because they're all just going to wait patiently for me to leave because my dad told me not to fight them,_ Taylor thought rather sardonically as she kept a frown off her face. She knew why her dad was doing this, especially after this weekend, but it didn't make it any less stifling. It wasn't like she wanted to face an Endbringer of all things, but she could understand why he didn't want her to even think about going near one of those city-destroying monsters.

"Alright," Taylor said, acquiescing to his demands. It wasn't as if she had a choice in the matter, did she? Without him to sign the paperwork she couldn't be a Ward. "Then you'll let me be a Ward?"

"…Yes, you can be a Ward," her dad said, a small twinge of defeat coloring his tone. But there was a spark of pride in his eyes that he couldn't quite keep hidden.

Despite all the prodding and teasing from her dad in the future, she refused to admit that she danced a little bit at that news.

* * *

Armsmaster and Emily Piggot watched as the two Heberts left the room to discuss her possible future with the Wards. The meeting hadn't gone as well as the Protectorate hero had hoped, but it was better than what he expected. In a situation like this, anything would be better than having her walk out of the room with a well-justified loathing of the Protectorate and PRT.

"You didn't press about the irregularities we found with Shadow Stalker," Armsmaster noted out loud as the door clicked shut behind the two, the hydraulic locks freezing the door in place. A low hum filled the room, cutting off outside eyes and ears from the office thanks to a jamming field.

"Neither did you," Piggot said as she leaned back in her seat. The chair didn't creak, it was too well maintained for that, but it did seem to strain a little under Piggot's excess weight. Armsmaster noted that he should probably get someone to look at that before it gave out.

"I was following your lead," Armsmaster protested, earning a snort from the woman. It was clear that excuse wasn't going to fly today.

"If you had been following my lead you wouldn't have tried to throw me under the bus," Piggot noted, giving the Tinker a dark glare. Armsmaster wasn't cowed by it as he forced his own anger down. He knew that Piggot wasn't one of the most diplomatic of PRT Directors. There were worse ones like Tagg that he hoped that he would never have to work under, but that didn't lessen her stubbornness. It was only made worse by the fact that most of the time the Director was rather well justified with her anger, and made calling her out on it so much harder when it wasn't.

"You were being unnecessarily antagonistic Director. I felt that if things had continued as they were then Ms. Hebert would have refused Wardship outright. You were pushing her too hard and too fast," he said, hoping that she might see the point he was trying to make.

"Are you expecting me to give a cape preferential treatment?" Piggot asked, a dangerous tone worming its way into her voice. Armsmaster could practically feel the thin ice he was skating on, but he refused to be cowed. Not when she was the one that almost cost them a new recruit, especially when they were going to be down a Ward of the foreseeable future.

The fact that he had to be so concerned about losing the firepower of a single Ward was a testament to how screwed up Brockton Bay was. Wards weren't even supposed to be near Protectorate fights, much less take part in them. But without the Ward assisting them the local Protectorate could only field half of their strength, which was rather pathetic in comparison to the Empire who could field over two dozen capes at once. It was painful to know that he would be placing this young woman in harm's way, but it was the only way they could combat the growing grip of the gangs.

"No, but she is still a traumatized girl who you just tried to strong arm," Armsmaster said, a hint of anger entering his tone. He knew all too well what that girl was experiencing and how confused she must have been. Triggering was not an event to take lightly, and to have her worldview towards heroes shaken as that no doubt put her off balance.

He was certain Piggot knew this as well and was why she had tried to get some time with the girl alone. Armsmaster knew he wasn't perfect, but he liked to think that he wouldn't stoop so low that he would be willing to manipulate a teenager into something they didn't really want to do.

As he watched Piggot's expression darken he added, "Even if that had worked she would have resented us at every turn. She would have been another Sophia Hess, only this time she would have some legitimate dirt against us.

A vein pulsed on Piggot's head in anger. "I am well aware of the Sword of Damocles hanging over our head Colin, why do you think I was trying to push her into the Wards?"

"And bullying her into that position will help how?" Armsmaster asked incredulously.

"And painting me in a negative light helps how?" Piggot shot back.

"As we just established you were already making a negative impression," Armsmaster said, earning another glower from the woman. "I was simply trying to make something useful out of it."

"Explain," Piggot demanded. She was still angry, that much was clear, but she seemed to be willing to discuss the situation rationally, which was more than he could ask for. Though he did have to frown at her general attitude. While he knew that diplomacy wasn't one of her strong suits even she knew better than to try and threaten someone who had more leverage than they did. He remembered the somewhat pale look that she had when Taylor had been explaining where her spiders, or Visorak as she seemed to prefer, had come from. The woman had closed off after that, only offering a few rather heated words to the girl throughout the rest of the discussion. Perhaps that was something that he needed to check out later.

Shaking off those thoughts Armsmaster turned his attention back towards Piggot's demand. "By presenting myself as the more accommodating one I'm hoping that she'll view me in a more positive light and will be more willing to cooperate."

"And end up despising me," Piggot said, though there wasn't any real heat behind her words, more of an acceptance of what he was saying. She clearly understood what was at stake here. If Taylor's summation of her powers were accurate, she could be the biggest force multiplier in the bay short of a new Tinker. She was effectively six parahumans in one, perhaps even more, depending on how many Visorak she could spawn. She could be a game changer that could set the balance of power into the Protectorate's hands for the first time in years. Piggot knew this as well as he did, she just had a different way of ensuring the girl was on their side.

"She would have ended up resenting you your way too, so I don't really see how that changes much," Armsmaster noted, ignoring the dark look from the Director.

"Very well, I'll play your little game, but if she gets on board you need to make her understand that she needs to listen to me. I don't want to replace one troublemaker with another," Piggot said after a moment's consideration. Armsmaster knew she would eventually, the woman was nothing if not a pragmatist. If she thought throwing her reputation with the girl under the bus was the best way to get her on board she would do it without hesitation.

"Now, what can you tell me about Hess' escape?" Piggot asked, folding her hands together once again. Armsmaster bit back a grimace. Sophia's escape had come as a surprise to the Tinker. His electrical cuff should have been able to keep in from using her powers, and without them, she was just a teenage girl. A trained teenage girl, but compared to fully grown men and well-trained troopers she shouldn't have been that difficult to deal with.

He had to admit that while Jenkins did break protocol, he did have the excuse of believing that something was wrong with Sophia. That didn't excuse his behavior, there were reasons that they had protocols, but it made it a bit more understandable. But even with Jenkin's lapse, there should have been no way for Sophia to throw him back and break the cuff internal wiring without a level of strength well beyond her own.

"The wiring casing was cracked," Armsmaster said as he brought up an image of the manacles on the screen. The metal that made up the cuff itself was unharmed, but internal scans revealed that the wires that kept the current in place had been jostled out of place.

"Are you telling me she broke a pair of _expensive_ Tinker tech cuffs by hitting it with a rock?" Piggot asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly not impressed that such technology was defeated so easily. Armsmaster had to avoid grinding his teeth at that shot. He had been the one to build and design the cuffs, to have them defeated by the very person they were meant to hold was irritating.

"No," he ground out past his anger. Another image filled the screen, highlighting the inside ring of the restraints. Several brown specks dotted the surface, too small for most human eyes to see. "We found traces of blood, she obviously cut herself when she was escaping, but after the standard test we found some…anomalies."

As Piggot raised an eyebrow the Protectorate Tinker brought up the preliminary findings of the blood test. The fact that the forensic experts had to come to him for help spoke volumes as to how unusual the results were. He watched as Piggot's uncaring look collapsed into one of confusion as she watched the text scroll down the screen.

"We found that Sophia's blood had been contaminated by an unknown substance that doesn't match anything on record," he said. Even his own scanners, many of which didn't even have names because he had been the one to invent them hadn't been able to determine what the substance was. There was nothing that had matched in the Protectorate's rather extensive database.

That in of itself wasn't too unusual, powers didn't lend themselves to be easily cataloged, but what was really odd about it was that it appeared to be designed. If he didn't know anything about it, he would have assumed that it was the result of years of work by a Tinker, maybe several. It was organic, but there were also several variants of nanomachines that were aiding the organic part of the substance in whatever its functions were.

"We found that it appears to be mutating Sophia's blood, somehow changing it into something else," he said. Even if he found the entire process to be sickening, there was a certain elegance to it, like watching an orchestra play Beethoven. This was art and science brought to form.

"…if you're saying what I think you're saying," Piggot said uneasily as she watched a normal red blood cell be consumed and mutated by the substance. Her skin was chalk white as her hands gripped her arm rest so tightly he could hear the chair screaming in protest. Only the faintest sense of control seemed to be preventing the Director from devolving into full-blown panic.

"Sophia's body is being biological manipulated, changing it into something different," Armsmaster said, unease coloring his own voice. He couldn't even begin how he was going to explain this to Sophia's mother. _We're sorry, not only is your daughter likely to go to jail, she's being mutated into something and we have no idea where she is._ Yes, that would go over spectacularly.

"This is from one of Hebert's minions, isn't it?" Piggot asked with a foul expression twisting over her features.

"Most likely," he agreed as he allowed the screen to shut off. The only seemed to make Piggot's grip on the chair tighten even more. Her eyes narrowed into mere slits as she glared at the door as if she could somehow view the girl through layers of steel. After several uncomfortable moments, the Director seemed to regain control over herself and take a deep sigh.

"And the reason you didn't push for more information on this when she was talking about her power?"

"I suspect that she doesn't know, or at the very least doesn't understand the full implications of it," Armsmaster said. "She was rather open about her powers, which it more than I can say for some parahumans."

"And you believe she is worth this effort?" Piggot asked as her gaze remained glued to the now blank screen as if she could still somehow see the mutating cells before her.

"As a Ward, we'll be able to monitor her and keep her from harming herself and anyone else," he said. That was the entire idea behind the Wards program, to give young parahuman a safe place to explore their powers without risk to the lives of civilians or themselves. He couldn't begin count how many parahumans had died because they didn't have a full understanding of what their power entailed. He knew that Piggot knew this, she was just trying to get everything out into the open. It was one thing to understand something, quite another to admit it out loud.

"If she becomes a Ward, you _will_ thoroughly examine this…mutagen before you even _begin_ to plan patrol route for her," Piggot said, her voice as cold as the arctic winds. Armsmaster hummed in agreement, that was something they agreed on. "I don't care if it takes ten years, we cannot allow something like this to get out into the public."

"And if she doesn't become a Ward?" he asked, playing devil's advocate. It wasn't as if the girl didn't have some rather well-justified reasons to not want to become a Ward.

"Then we'll have her placed under very heavy surveillance. The last thing we need is another Nilbog deciding they want a city for themselves," she said, earning a frown from Armsmaster. He could understand the threat that the girl represented, but it still didn't make this feel any less right.

The conversation came to a halt with a buzzing at the door, indicating that the men outside were signaling that someone wanted inside. Armsmaster had to give it to Piggot, her hand only shook a little as she unlocked the door and allowed the parahuman responsible for Sophia's condition inside. Her father, Danny Hebert, looked just a worn as the Director was. He seemed to be carrying a weight and sadness on his shoulders that were in stark contrast to the bright smile on his daughter's face.

"I take it you've come to a decision," Piggot said as the two settled back down into their seats. The Director did an admirable job of keeping her unease from her face, but he could still make out some faint traces of tension that she couldn't quite hide.

"Yes, we've reached an agreement," her father said, his voice lacking some of the fire and anger it had before. He just looked downright exhausted at this point, as if he was trying to keep himself together through sheer force of will. He didn't look happy about what their choice was, but he wasn't offering up any resistance as set the Ward paperwork on the desk, name signed on the dotted line. Taylor turned toward him and gave the Protectorate Tinker a small smile.

"I'm going to be a Ward!"

* * *

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	7. Interlude: Destiny

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Interlude: Destiny

Mata Nui knew he was at the end of his line. His systems were all but screaming at him that he was pushing himself to his limits and beyond. As powerful as it was, the energy cube was only a temporary solution, and it was slowly running out of power. Entire mountain ranges crumbled under his metal hand into dust as he struggled to right himself.

A dark shadow loomed over him, blocking out the blazing heat of Bara Magna's star. Mata Nui looked up to see Makuta's leering face glaring down at him. The Great Spirit could feel the malevolent intent radiating off his former brother as energy crackled and gathered around his palms.

"You made an excellent effort," Makuta said, his dark voice echoing across the entire planet. Mata Nui knew that if Makuta really wanted to, he could have just unleashed his voice's full power and shattered every skull on the planet without expending any energy. But that wasn't what he wanted. Makuta wanted a show. He wanted to prove to the citizens of the Matoran Universe and of Bara Magna that there was nothing that could stop him. That not even Mata Nui, the Great Spirit and defeater of the Skrull could stop him. "But they don't remember who tried the hardest… only those who won. Today, that is I. Goodbye, brother."

Mata Nui tried to force himself back up, but his servos were well beyond the breaking point. His hands and feet dug into the earth, triggering bioquakes all over the region as he tried to right himself, but nothing came of it. He was utterly at the nonexistent mercies of Makuta, and if he fell, then the entire universe would fall. The Toa would fall after having fought so long and hard because of _his_ mistakes. The Glatorians, his friends, would die from an evil that they had never known. All the Matoran and Agori would suffer under Makuta's heel for all eternity because he wasn't strong enough to stop him.

The Great Spirit could feel his weaker frame start to melt and twist as the heat gathered in Makuta's hand. The monster could have ended him in in an instant, but he was drawing it out, taking joy in every moment of suffering that he was putting his former brother through. Mata Nui could only watch on as the ball of flaming energy finally grew to the point that it would vaporize his head with a single blast and end any hope for the universe.

That was when it happened.

Mata Nui's failing sensors detected a huge spike of energy travel all across the battlefield, vaporizing every Rahkshi in its path. In that single instant, over two-thirds of Makuta's army was lost. Even as small as they were to him he could watch as every kraata disintegrated into dust with a horrible wail. The Rahkshi were utterly replaceable, and even the loss of an army such as this would be nothing more than an annoyance to Makuta, but it was in that moment that Mata Nui found hope. For every Rahkshi was connected to its creator, and while the death of one would mean nothing, the death of so many at once was unprecedented.

Makuta staggered, the strain of having so many of his servants dying overwhelming even him. So dazed the tyrant didn't even notice what was sneaking up behind him. As a dark shadow was cast over the two robots, Mata Nui knew what he had to do. With a great shove, he channeled all the power he could, including a portion of his spirit into forcing his body to move. The robot shell groaned in protest, but it moved, shooting up into the air even as Makuta tried to regain his balance.

Mata Nui threw his arms out and used his momentum to throw Makuta from the ground and into the oncoming path of Bota Magna. Makuta didn't even have time to realize what was happening as his skull was crushed under the weight of an entire world. In that instant, the servers that housed Makuta's spirit were virtually vaporized, flinging debris all over the planet and into the cold vacuum of space.

Even as the Master of Shadow's massive corpse fell to the ground, never to rise again, Mata Nui failed to notice a rather large chunk of Makuta's former head shoot off into the distance, catapulted out of the planet's orbit. Within seconds the impact with the planet blasted it into the dark depths of space, never to be seen by the Great Spirit ever again.

* * *

The two Entities were approaching the next star cluster when they found it. A hulk of twisted metal of what had once been a greater whole.

 _Curiosity._ The Thinker broadcasted over the depths of the void to its partner. The device was made of a material that the two had never encountered before. It was artificial, but it was almost organic in its own way. A deeper study of the contraption could prove to be useful to them.

 _Caution._ The Warrior, the more cautious of the two sent back. It too was curious about what the twisted hunk of metal could offer them, but it had always been warier of their discoveries. There were beings in the darkness of the void that used traps and tricks to hunt their kind and slaughter them. If this was some kind of trap they couldn't allow themselves to fall into it.

 _Curiosity._ The Thinker reaffirmed as it approached the device. A quick scan revealed that the object wasn't completely inert. There was something in it that was active and moving. It was liquid in nature, but it was unlike anything that the Thinker had ever seen. A deep scan of the material revealed nothing as if the Shard simply couldn't understand what was being presented to it.

 _Desire._ The Tinker tugged on the material using one of its spatial manipulation Shards. The liquid floated through the void of space as the Tinker wrapped it in a containment bubble. The Thinker could see that the Warrior was taking its own samples from the object, but none were as interesting as what it had taken. Instead, it focused on the more physical and combative materials like it always did. The Thinker often got irritated with the Warrior's single minded idea of smashing everything in its path, but it still proved to be a useful deterrent against other Entities. The Thinker stopped paying attention after the Warrior slaved a group of techno-organic four-legged creatures to its administration Shard.

Picking the wreck clean only took a few minutes at most before they were done. The Thinker would have preferred to take the debris with them, but they were already on target for a planet and would have to start shedding weight soon. All that taking the hunk of metal would do was take up space that could be better used for Shards.

As they floated off towards the blue-green planet that was their target destination the Thinker examined the liquid more closely. Even with a deep scan, its Shards revealed nothing about the material.

 _Frustration._ The Entity couldn't remember the last time it had been so thoroughly vexed. Every attempt to decipher the liquid's base structure ended in failure. Even with the combined mental weight of a million minds, nothing came of it.

 _Discovery._ The Warrior proclaimed, sending a sample over for the Thinker to analyze. The Thinker's scans revealed that it was some sort of organic creature, but what it found most interesting were the traces of the liquid in its genetic structure.

 _Contemplation._ The Entity considered the creature as it ran another futile scan of the liquid again. Perhaps that was the purpose behind the liquid, some sort of supplement for growth? A brief extrapolation of what the creature's genetic structure would be without the liquid revealed a jumbled mess of information that only came into place once the liquid was added.

 _Curiosity._ The Thinker broadcasted again as it considered the liquid once more. It almost seemed to act as a stabilizing agent of the creature, but at the same time, it was increasing the level of functionality that the creature possessed. Perhaps this could be applied to itself.

 _Caution._ The Warrior warned. They were already shedding a great deal of their Shards into other dimensions as they approached the planet. Experimenting now could prove to be disastrous if they were caught in the planet's gravity well too soon.

 _Negation._ The Thinker shot back, unconcerned with the Warrior's warning. It had always been the better flier of the two. The odds of it suffering a life damaging crash were small to none. It had nothing to be concerned about. It could afford to run a test or two on the liquid before they reached the planet.

The Thinker selected one of its more run down and weaker Shards. It was a pathetic thing, barely useful anymore. The only reason the Thinker kept it anymore was because it would take more energy to dissolve it than it was worth. It was supposed to be a simulation Shard, but an accident in its creation resulted in it in being damaged and deformed. It wouldn't be a great loss to the Entity if the experiment failed and the Shard was damaged beyond repair.

 _Hesitance._ The Warrior sent out again, but the Thinker ignored it once more. It had no time to indulge in the fear of its counterpart. The Thinker wasn't exactly sure what to expect once the liquid and the damaged Shard came into contact with each other. Most likely nothing would happen and the substance would remain inert. But the moment the liquid touched the Shard the Entity was proven wrong.

As the liquid passed through the Shard, everything it touched changed. The Entity could feel the Shard rebuilding itself into something better. Connections that had never existed before established themselves as the previously weak simulation Shard transformed into something far greater. The Entity could feel the power behind this Shard, unlike anything it had ever seen before. Plans among plans filled the Entity's mind as it activated the Shard. Every step of their three hundred cycle experiment was laid out before it in the most efficient way that it had ever seen.

The Entities had always tried to conserve as much energy as possible during the testing process, but the experiments always tended to get out of hand, even with the Terror Drones keeping the populations in check. But this, this made all of that obsolete. They could know exactly what the test subjects were going to do before they even did. They could plan out experiments centuries in advance, and there would be absolutely nothing that could stop them.

 _Excitement._ The Thinker broadcasted to the Warrior, sending a scan of its new Shard to its partner. This was unlike anything they had ever encountered. Every other Shard in their collection paled in comparison to this one. They would never have to worry about being placed in danger ever again with this Shard at their beck and call.

 _Amazement._ The Warrior replied, stunned by the sheer potential the Shard possessed. Though it lacked the mental prowess of the Thinker, it was still smart enough to realize how potent this power could be in their grasp. This was a complete game changer for the Entities, and it had been brought on by the strange liquid they had recovered. Even with its new Shard, the Thinker couldn't find a path to discovering how the substance worked, but that didn't really matter much.

If it could change something as weak and deformed as the simulation Shard into something like this, what else could it do? Using it on one of its Queen shards could exponentially heighten their power. The Thinker grabbed the substance with its power once more and directed it to one of its central processing Shards.

 _Negative._ The Warrior warned. As great as the power was that they had been granted, there was still no telling what it would do to the Thinker's core Shard. Losing one of those would be catastrophic.

 _Denial._ The Thinker shot back. It wasn't going to be held back by the Warrior's petty fears. This substance was going to be the key to their success and survival. They would be able to become greater than any of their kind had in the past. Nothing would be able to stop them. The Entity quivered in anticipation as the liquid was poured out onto its primary Queen Shard, the one that kept all its other abilities in check. But as the liquid came into contact with the flesh of the Shard something went wrong.

 _Pain._ The Thinker screamed as the liquid burned through the primary Shard with the same speed and efficacy that it had transformed the simulation Shard. The Entity could feel its control over the situation slip away as more and more of itself was reduced to nothing by the substance.

 _Fear._ The Thinker transmitted as it slowly began to lose its orbit. With the shedding process already so far underway, there was no possible way to stop the crash. All of the Shards that could have helped stopped it were locked away in other dimensions for later use. Without them, it couldn't stop its freefall.

 _Concern._ The Warrior sent back as it tried to slow down its partner's fall, but it was already too late. The Thinker could feel even more of its core fall under the tendrils of the liquid even as its outer shards fell apart as it entered the planet's atmosphere. Within seconds the Shard that it had so previously put so much hope and confidence in was ripped away from it, crashing into the planet.

The Thinker could see the ground coming up fast, far faster than it would be able to survive. As it reached the ground the substance lost its grip on the primary Shard, saving it from total annihilation. The substance fell into another dimension as a rift opened up from the uncontrolled powers of the Thinker.

But even if the Shard hadn't been totally destroyed it might have well as been. There was nothing left for the Entity to do as it waited to finally reach the ground. Now power could save it, no plan would resurrect it. It would be dead and gone and the Warrior would be alone. Far too dull and unimaginative to complete the mission it would flitter about before finally succumbing to starvation.

Eons of planning and experiments all for nothing. How ironic that it had made its greatest discovery, only to perish at the hands of said discovery.

 _Fear._

 _Regret._

 _Ter-_

* * *

 **There are somethings that shouldn't be poked with a stick, as Eden learned the hard way.**

 **Special Thanks to my Patrons:** Velzon, Sphinxes, Sanjay and xxpowerxx1qz


	8. Predator

**Enjoy!  
**

Predator

"Nervous?"

Taylor glanced up from the floor to the PRT agent guiding her down the labyrinth of hallways. The visor made it almost impossible to make out his expression, and his body language was reserved and closed. But she supposed the question was friendly enough, especially given that he was supposed to be keeping track of her. His containment foam sprayer was holstered, but she had seen how fast they could bring that thing out if they got so much of a whiff of conflict.

She wasn't exactly happy that she was stuck with what was essentially a second shadow but for now, she was on a probationary period in terms of Ward membership. She was fairly certain her dad has agreed to this so that he wouldn't have to worry about her getting in any sort of trouble again. Which seemed a little counterproductive given that she was becoming a Ward. But it was a small price to pay, and she couldn't say that she wasn't entirely unhappy that she would have a second pair of eyes with her. If she had had someone like this at Winslow, Sophia and Emma would have never even bothered trying to lock her up.

"A little," she admitted. She tried to keep herself from tugging on her new costume too much, but she still wasn't quite used to the form fitting fabric. After two years of wearing baggy clothing that did nothing to complement her already scrawny frame, this was an unusual twist.

The costume in question had apparently been painstakingly put together by the PR department to make her as approachable and heroic to the public as possible given the nature of her powers. The suit was dyed lime green with darker highlights surrounding her shoulders and limbs. Though it looked like a relatively simple fabric, it was actually made of some sort of damage resistant material that would help keep her from getting hurt. In addition, several pads were placed at key points around her body to add some more protection.

Her dark hair hung freely from her helmet, splayed out across her shoulders. The helmet covered the upper half of her face, leaving her mouth free for view. The design of the helmet vaguely looked like a bug with her somewhat oversized lenses, but it was different enough that people wouldn't get freaked out by it. She had questioned why they thought leaving her mouth and jaw exposed was a good idea, but they had claimed it was for the best. Apparently closing her off completely from the public would make her unapproachable and distant without a more extroverted personality to counterbalance it. Her Suukorak, who she had taken to calling Glaciallis after the Arctic Wolf spider, had pointed out that such an opening would leave her open to attack. She hadn't been as quite as comfortable wearing the suit after hearing dozens of ways that such an opening could end in her death.

The PR team claimed that villains wouldn't take such actions against her because she was a Ward, but that didn't comfort her much. Was she just supposed to trust that a villain would follow the rules? But regardless of her misgivings, getting an actual cape costume was easily one of the best highlights of the week. She wasn't just some girl with powers anymore, she was an actual hero.

Of course, becoming a Ward was far from a simple process. The paperwork that her father had signed off had only been the tip of the iceberg. She could still remember the almost literal mountain of paper that had piled up on her father's desk as he went through every line with a fine-tooth comb. The PRT had tried to assure him that it was all standard stuff, but her father wasn't taking any chances. He hadn't stopped until he had read through literally everything to make sure they weren't trying to pull a fast one. She herself wasn't privy to all of the negotiations, but she had heard they had gotten a little heated.

Part of it had simply been over the use of her powers. She wasn't allowed to birth anymore Visorak for the next year unless one of them died or she was given permission from Director Piggot herself. It was a little galling to know that her power was being restricted in such a fashion. The excuse they had given was that such a power imbalance in such a short few days would upset the gangs and make them more likely to do something stupid. Taylor could understand the logic, even though deep down she knew that wasn't the real reason, but that didn't make it any less restrictive.

 _"Do not worry my Queen, I shall protect you,"_ Glaciallis said as he marched alongside her. Taylor had been hoping to keep all of her minions together, but apparently exposing so many possibly violent creatures to the Wards was unwanted. It wasn't as if they didn't trust her, but they didn't know enough about the Visorak's reactions and personalities to consider them safe yet. Especially since they seemed to be capable of independent thought and action, a fact that she was pretty sure caused one of the older researchers to have a seizure.

The meeting that had come after that little tidbit of information was still scarred into her mind.

* * *

 _Earlier_

"I suppose there's a point to locking my daughter up," her dad said, his expression twisted into frustration and barely contained anger. Taylor herself wasn't actually present in the room but instead staring through a computer screen attached to the wall. Her Visorak were also present, each one wanting to assist her, but not quite knowing how since she told them they shouldn't try to break her out.

"A precaution Mr. Hebert. If she cooperates then she should be out within an hour or so. That's less time than most Wards spend in Master/Stranger confinement for training," Emily Piggot said with an appeasing tone, but her face might have well have been etched from granite. It was like trying to read a book in the dark. At least for her, it was.

 _"She is afraid,"_ her Suukorak proclaimed as it took up a spot next to her. Its crystal blue eyes were entirely focused on the woman responsible for their containment. Taylor didn't say anything to draw any attention to herself, but from her questioning look, the Suukorak elaborated. _"She fears us, you can see it in her posture. She looks like she's ready to run or fight, and is just only holding herself back. Her eyes never let you get out of her sight. She wants to make sure that you are still where she thinks you are. She will not turn her back on a possible threat."_

Taylor wanted to point out that she was planning on becoming a Ward, that there shouldn't be a reason to consider her a threat. But she kept her mouth shut instead. Complaining about this like a petulant child wouldn't solve anything.

"Forgive me if I don't find that comforting," Dad said with a scowl.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to stand by with Director Piggot on this one Mr. Hebert. At least until we clear some things up," Armsmaster added from his position by the Director's side.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" her dad asked. Clearly, he was just as eager to get her out of this room as she was. While it wasn't quite the boiler room, she was still feeling a bit trapped. Taylor watched as another screen sputtered on with that static that she would sometimes see when the channel was out. Her father was forced to turn around a bit to get a good view of the new screen as a series of lights flashed underneath. The lights transitioned from red to yellow before finally stopping on green and revealing the person on the other side. Taylor would have had to have been living under a rock to not recognize the new face.

While Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown wasn't nearly as famous as say, Alexandria, she was still a well-known public figure in her own right. She was accredited as one of the main architects of the PRT and Protectorate and was easily one of the most powerful individuals in the nation.

"Chief Director," Piggot said with a nod, a hint of respect entering her tone. The Hispanic woman was wearing a rather nice-looking suit that only further enhanced the image of power she presented. Even being this far away from her and looking at her through two screens Taylor could feel the sheer presence that seemed to demand the attention of everyone present. She could even feel the Suukorak tense up next to her.

 _"Be very careful. This one is dangerous,"_ it hissed under its breath, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Taylor could see that the other Visorak were doing the same, closing in on her as if to protect her from some unseen threat to her being.

"Taylor Hebert, temporary codename Araneae?" The woman asked, and Taylor straightened her spine a little bit as she shook her head. She tried to talk, but her throat felt dry, as she had just walked through the desert for a few hours. There was just something about the way Director Costa-Brown spoke that made her want to listen. "Well, on behalf of the PRT I welcome your inclusion to the Wards."

Taylor managed to keep herself from squealing out loud, biting her lip in such a way that if she wasn't careful would slice her skin open.

"Then perhaps you can explain why my daughter is being locked inside a room," her dad said, apparently unruffled by the presence that Director Costa-Brown put out. The woman raised an eyebrow and seemed to quirk her lip a little at her father's disrespect, but made no move to comment on it.

"How much do you know about Master class parahumans, Mr. Hebert?" the Chief Director asked, folding her hands in a calm and centered position. It was a sharp contrast to her father's anger, like watching a lava flow and a glacier collide. The question seemed to catch her father off guard though. She could see his brows furrowing in thought as he considered the question.

"Not much," he admitted, earning a hum from the Director. Taylor's attention shot back to Armsmaster as he stepped forward to explain.

"Most Master class parahumans control projections or objects and creatures that already exist. The number of Masters that can create living beings is a much smaller list. Breed. Nilbog."

Taylor felt a chill go down her spine at the hero's words. Was he comparing her to one of the greatest monsters ever to exist? One that literally wiped a town off the map in the span of a few days? In the corner of her eye, she could see Piggot stiffen a little at the mention of the name, and there was a flicker of deep-seated primal fear that hadn't been there before.

"Taylor isn't one of those monsters!" Dad practically shouted to the screen. His face was twisted into a rictus of rage and his skin was turning an interesting shade of crimson. If Costa-Brown was at all intimidated by the display she didn't give a single sign.

"I agree," she said, throwing her father for a loop judging by his surprised expression. He apparently hadn't been expecting her to agree with him so easily. "However, you can understand how an individual who can create apparently full sapient life forms is a worrying prospect given past experiences."

Taylor swallowed nervously as the woman's steely gaze settled on her. Did they think she was going to go on a rampage like Nilbog had? She wanted to protest that she wouldn't but as she considered it from their point of view, she realized they did have some legitimate concerns. She might be able to forgive the PRT's actions with Sophia, but she was never going to be able to forget. She actually had a legitimate reason to want to hate the PRT.

"She wants to be a Ward," her dad hissed, his hands clenching his seat's arms.

"I am well aware of her heroic disposition," the Chief Director said, and Taylor couldn't help but preen a little bit at the thought of the Chief Director calling her heroic. "But there are some questions that need to be answered, particularly regarding Shadow Stalker's condition."

"Condition?" Taylor asked, tilting her head in confusion. Was Sophia sick or something? Frankly, it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, but from the way, they were talking they made it sound like she was dying. The Director's eyes flickered back over to Piggot and Armsmaster.

"You haven't told her?" It wasn't quite an accusation, but it was hardly an innocent question. The two seemed to shift nervously, like a pair of students being caught red handed passing notes in class.

"We felt that pushing for such information at that juncture might have lessened her desire to become a Ward," Piggot said, and Taylor couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation. She felt that this entire conversation was going on about her and she was nothing more than a casual observer. And what could they ask her that could have possibly disinclined her to the Wards any more than Sophia already had?

The Chief Director sighed a bit before turning the full weight of her gaze back on Taylor. It felt like she was staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck. "During Armsmaster's investigation into Shadow Stalker's escape from confinement he discovered an anomalous presence in her blood," she said, her eyes flickering towards Armsmaster. Apparently, that was some sort of signal, because the man took over the conversation after that.

"An analysis of Sophia's bloodwork revealed an unknown contaminant," Armsmaster said, pulling up another image onto Taylor's screen. She couldn't understand even half of what was being displayed on the small green box, but something told her that it wasn't anything good. "This substance has no match for anything on record and is capable of mutating biology with an ease, unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"What does that have to do with me?" Taylor asked as she felt the pit of dread build up in her stomach. A quick glance to her Visorak's fangs gave her a pretty good clue where they were leading this conversation.

"Earlier you told us that your creatures possessed venom, but you never went into its capabilities," Armsmaster said. The gaping maw of dread widened every more as she took in the full ramifications of his question.

"W-well, I never asked," Taylor said, feeling somewhat foolish. It was such a childish and simple answer, but it was what had honestly happened. She had been so focused on getting out and catching Emma and Sophia that she had skipped over details with their venom. She had just told them not to hurt or kill them, she assumed that fell under the same category. If it didn't... Taylor gulped, "When they told me it was venom, I thought it was like regular venom."

Armsmaster hummed, but nobody seemed like they thought she was lying. As far as she could tell at least. Piggot was hard to read and the Chief Director might as well have been a statute.

"So, you have no knowledge of what your minion's venom might do?" Piggot asked, her eyes narrowing. It was clear that she was less than pleased with what was happening, and Taylor couldn't blame her. She hadn't been thorough enough in her research into her minion's capabilities. Taylor shook her head numbly before turning to her minions.

"What does it do?" she asked, wary of the answer. She hoped that they would say something banal, like causing paralysis or death, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be that simple.

 _"Hordika Venom has two possible effects, My Queen,"_ Glaciallis said. _"Once injected the prey will either fall into an endless dreamless sleep or—"_

"Or what?" Taylor asked, cutting the Visorak off. She couldn't help herself, her muscles felt like they were tightened coils and her mind was racing a thousand miles per minute. Her imagination was filling with horrific effects the venom would have on Sophia's body.

 _"Or they will mutate into Hordika."_

"What does Hordika mean?" she asked, her voice small and afraid. She could feel the questioning gazes of the assembly behind her, eager to know what the Visorak was saying.

 _"Their bodies will mutate and their minds will be lost into a primal, animalistic rage. They become little more than feral beasts, attacking all in sight,"_ the Suukorak explained calmly as if it were explaining how the rain fell from the sky. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Sophia was going through, and as much as she hated her, even she wouldn't have wished that fate upon her.

"Well?" Piggot asked, her expression eager for answers. Taylor had a feeling she wouldn't be so eager for answers once she explained what was going on. Taylor opened her mouth to explain.

A minute later she found out how right she was.

* * *

In retrospect, the conversation that followed hadn't been _that_ bad considering what they had been talking about. For a few brief moments following the revelation that her Visorak could mutate living creatures into rabid monsters, she had feared that they might throw her in prison.

But in actuality, the Chief Director explained that her minions would be undergoing very thorough testing to ensure that no more surprised were hiding under their shells. They had her ask them quite a few questions about the venom, some to just confirm what they had discovered on their own. The sapience of the Visorak had been a bit of a stickler, and Piggot had been more than a little afraid that they would start making their own choices regarding heroing. Fortunately, the near blind obedience they had for her was enough to soothe most feathers. All she really had to do was order them not to use their venom _ever_ _again_ and everything would be fine.

Mostly.

Taylor was a bit irritated that they were limiting her minion's numbers to what she had now, but she understood their logic, even if she didn't like it. They wanted to be absolutely sure that neither she or her minions were going to go completely off their rails and try to kill everyone. And as much as they tried to hide it that was what they were afraid of despite their claims to keeping the balance of power. It was more than a little galling, and why she understood their reluctance that didn't make it any less irritating. It wasn't like she was actually going to go off the rails and kill everyone. They had nothing to fear from her and the insinuation that they did was somewhat insulting.

So, all in all, while the conversation certainly hadn't been pleasant by any stretch of the imagination, it was far fairer than what she had been initially expecting. And she supposed it said something about Blackwell's incompetence that she felt more secure talking to the Protectorate about her minion's biological weapons than she had been talking about the bullying.

"Thank you, Glaciallis. But these people are going to be my teammates, so please try to not attack them," she said. She didn't want her first impression with the Wards being one of her minions trying to eat their faces. The Visorak huffed but acquiesced, as they always did. It was more than a little odd to have such devotion directed towards her after years of isolation and scorn. It was almost intoxicating really.

 _"Very well, My Queen."_

"Don't worry, the Wards are good kids, you'll like them," the PRT agent said with an easy grin. Or at least she assumed it was since she couldn't see his face. Taylor was willing to believe the man, but there was still that niggling little doubt in the back of her head, born from years of abuse by one she had once called her friend. She had heard nothing but praise towards the Wards during her testing, but how much of that had been real, and how much was made to try and wash away the memory of Sophia's actions?

 _I guess I'll find out now,_ she thought nervously as the came to the door to the Ward's common room. Taylor steeled herself as the PRT agent pushed a button on the wall. The door slid open with nary a sound, gliding across the floor as if it were a ghost. Taylor swallowed her fear and stepped through the threshold. She noticed the rather nice-looking furnishings of the room, ranging from a state of the art tv to a couch that looked big enough to hold half a dozen people. But she focused her attention on the actual occupants of the room rather than the room itself because they were what was important. These were the people she would be working with for some time now.

"Hi, you must be Araneae."

Taylor tried not to flinch as a space warped and a blonde girl deposited herself a few feet away. Glaciallis hissed in displeasure, but Taylor put a hand on his carapace to hold him back. The last thing she needed was her first impression being one of her minions trying to rip off one of her teammate's faces because they startled him.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, "he doesn't really like it when strangers get close to me."

She could hear the Visorak muttering under his breath, but she didn't pay it any mind. Fortunately, the girl, who she could now recognize as Vista, waved it off.

"That's okay, I probably shouldn't have done that anyway," the younger girl said with a slight grimace. Still, even if it had been startling the level of control Vista had to possess to snap two spaces in the room together so quickly it almost appeared as if she had teleported was impressive. She knew that Vista was one of the longest running Wards in the city, but it was still somewhat startling to see someone so young have so much control over their powers. Was this control the result of her training and experience?

"Hello Araneae, it's nice to meet you. I'm Aegis," another cape said, this one dressed in a rust red costume that covered everything except his eyes. His hands reached up to pull his mask off, letting his long dark hair free from his helmet. His face had an easy grin on it as he set his helmet under his arms and held out his hand to shake hers, but stopped short as Glaciallis stepped forwards a little bit, eyes lighting in warning. His fangs clicked together menacingly as his buzz saw like teeth let out an unholy chittering.

"Stop it," Taylor quietly hissed, glad that her cheeks were covered by her mask so they couldn't see them flush red. The Visorak flinched at her displeasure and drew back in on himself a little. She knew that he was overprotective of her with other people thanks to Sophia and Emma's influence, but this was ridiculous. She appreciated the protectiveness of him and the rest of the Visorak, but now wasn't the time for such actions. She was trying to make a good impression after all. Taylor turned back to Aegis, giving the Ward a small smile that she hoped didn't look too nervous as she shook his hand.

His grip was firm but friendly, and quite frankly it was a testament to the quality her costume that she could still feel so well through the gloves. She couldn't see any details of his face with the mask on, but his posture was open and inviting.

"Don't mention it, powers usually come with quirks," he said with a shrug. But she did notice the somewhat wary glint in his eyes as he kept track of her minion. She managed to plaster a rather fake smile on her face to hide her irritation. She knew that she didn't have the friendliest power in the world, but that didn't mean that they had to worry that she was going to have them rip their faces off. Just because Glaciallis had been considering doing it and all of her minions were murder mutant spiders that could turn people into rabid beasts…

…Oh.

Taylor swallowed with the realization of how dangerous she actually was sunk in. She, of course, knew that her powers were dangerous, that was why she had been stuck in testing for so long, but to actually admit to herself that her powers were probably the most dangerous in the room was a worrying prospect. In the background, she could see the knight-like parahuman stand up a bit as if he had just noticed something. She couldn't help but realize that he was staring straight at her. She turned her gaze back to Carlos and found she couldn't help but look at his reactions in a different light.

Maybe there _was_ a reason for him to be wary of her. He was the leader of the Wards, wasn't he? He was probably the only one on the team that knew about what had really happened to Sophia and the part that she played in it. She knew that the PRT wanted her to be able to break the news herself so that she could explain her side of the story, but talking about what she had apparently done to Sophia sent shivers down her spine. She didn't want to have them look at her with fear and terror. She didn't see any of the other Wards flinching from her minion as Carlos had. In fact, Vista looked like she was trying to inch her way towards it without being noticed. But they still deserved to know what was happening and why they were at risk.

"Come on, why don't I introduce you to the rest of the team?" Aegis said. Taylor silently nodded as the rust red Ward Captain turned to face the rest of the assembled Wards. Vista let out a slight squeak, jumping back in shock as Glaciallis gave a stern glare at her outstretched hand which had been a few inches from touching his carapace. Taylor decided not to call him out on it. If he didn't want anyone aside from her to touch his body then that was his choice.

But before Carlos could get a word out the white costumed Ward with clock faces plastered all over his bodysuit stepped forward. Glaciallis gave him the evil eye but didn't do anything to warrant her attention.

"Is it true that you got Shadow Stalker canned?"

Taylor could feel the pressure build as everyone in the room turned their full attention towards her. Carlos' face twisted into an irritated scowl as his mouth opened, no doubt to berate his teammate, but she beat him to the punch. She didn't even know why she spoke, only that the words came tumbling out of her mouth. It was rather like watching a train wreck.

"Yes, yes, I did," she said, her cheeks flushing. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to be embarrassed about. It wasn't like Sophia hadn't been a psychopath who got off other peoples' suffering. A cold dread engulfed her like a blanket as a dark thought flittered around her mind. Was he asking because he enjoyed what she had been doing and was sad that she was leaving? Was she walking into the den of another sadist?

She could feel her heart start to race and the literal knight in shining armor looked like he was about to do something when the Ward broke the tension. He got on his knees and started bowing to her. "All hail Queen of the Spiders, for she has freed us from the tyranny of Shadow Stalker," he said in a tone so reverent that for a moment she almost wondered if he was being serious. But the small snorts of laughter coming from the gold and red Ward in the back revealed his true intentions.

Clockblocker, for who else could he be, broke down with snorts of laughter as Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose. Taylor couldn't help but join in the chuckles, relieved that her worst nightmare hadn't come true. How long had it been since she had actually enjoyed a laugh with someone instead of being laughed at?

 _"I do not see what is so humorous my Queen. Is the prey not giving you the respect and devotion that you deserve?"_ Glaciallis asked, apparently not comprehending the situation. Even if he was one of the calmest and most perceptive of the Visorak he was still a Visorak, and like all the others he practically worshiped the ground she walked on.

That only made it funnier.

As Taylor's snorts of laughter joined Clockblocker's she relaxed a bit, the tension easing out of her muscles like a warm mist. There was still a spark of hesitation born from two years of torment, but it was a small thing compared to the possibility of making new friends. Getting used to being the center of attention was going to be something that she was going to have to get used to, especially with her debut coming up soon. And that was _not_ a day that she was looking forward to. Just thinking about standing in front of a crowd like that gave her the shivers. Still, this was nice.

Perhaps this was a sign that things were starting to look up.

* * *

"So, what do you think of the new girl?" Clockblocker asked his hovering friend as they made their way down the darkened streets. All in all, it was a relatively quiet night with nary a criminal in sight. While they did see the occasional civilian to give a friendly wave the streets were virtually empty. Not a rare occurrence, but not exactly common either. Dennis knew to cherish these patrols despite the sheer boredom and monotony of walking down the sidewalk. It wasn't glamorous, but it was certainly better than trying to fight a parahuman.

"Araneae?" Kid Win asked as he readjusted his hoverboard's flight path as it tried to curve off to the side again. He was going to need to fix that sometime soon. "She seems nice, though those spiders of hers are a bit creepy."

"Tell me about it," Clockblocker muttered under his breath. He could still remember the ice-cold look that thing had given him when he had tried to approach the girl in a friendly manner. He hadn't even been planning on freezing her, but that thing's aggressive stare freaked him out so much he probably would have done it on accident had he actually touched her. And as much as he liked to play the fool, he knew better than to antagonize the dog sized possibly man-eating spider.

Though playing the fool seemed to be exactly what she needed to ease herself into the situation. She seemed much calmer and more open to conversation after his little stunt. Though that spider, or Visorak as she seemed to call it, still freaked him out. The fact that he now knew what that thing could do to people made it even more terrifying.

 _Which is probably why they told you that_ after _you met her,_ the cynical little voice in the back of his mind whispered.

"At least we won't have to deal with Shadow Stalker again," Kid Win said with obvious relief. While Clockblocker mostly agreed with his friend that Sophia's personality would hardly be missed, he still couldn't help but regret that she was leaving. Even if she hadn't been the nicest person in the world, and judging by Araneae's testimony far from a model citizen at that, she had still been the only hot girl on the team. Missy was far too young, no matter how much she wanted to pine for Dean, and while Taylor was far from ugly she wasn't as nearly as attractive as Sophia. Perhaps that was a petty reason to want her back, but when you lived in Brockton Bay you tried to get as much enjoyment out of life as you could.

Though he didn't have to admit that he felt rather sympathetic to the Breaker now that he knew what would become of her. Being mutated into a monster wasn't a fate he would wish on anyone. He did appetite that the PRT was putting their families under watch until the crisis had passed. He knew that Sophia knew better than to break the unwritten rules, but there was still that niggling little doubt in the back of his mind of his mom waking up to a crossbow bolt to the face.

He supposed he had her to thank for this rather easy patrol route as well. They couldn't stop the Ward patrolling in their entirety lest they wanted the public to realize something was up. An entire Ward's team being confined to quarters? The media would circle them like a pack of hungry sharks, smelling the blood in the water. The last thing the PRT wanted the public to find out is that they lost one of their Wards and that she was apparently an unrepentant psychopath.

Even so, they were still restricting their patrol routes until they caught the girl. They weren't going out of the downtown section of the city and Protectorate and PRT support was always a few minutes away. In reality, this was probably the safest they had ever been. At least there wasn't a chance that they could run into Oni-Lee or Hookwolf in this part of the city.

A piercing scream echoed through the air, sending goosebumps down the Striker's skin. It wasn't as if he hadn't heard screams of panic before, but this was one of pain and terror. Someone nearby was in a world of hurt. His stomach churned at the thought of whatever could make someone scream like that.

"Console, this is Clockblocker. We're hearing a cry of distress, permission to investigate?" There were times that Clockblocker hated being forced into inaction because of regulations, but they did exist for a reason. He might choose to ignore some of them, but he wasn't going to let himself put any of his teammates in danger.

"Affirmative, but at the first sign of trouble I want you out of there," Aegis said over the radio. Claros could be such a mothering hen at times. He was a good leader for certain, but he always tended to work more on the safe side for his team. It got a little irritating at times, particularly when he would lecture them on regulations while he was covered in his own blood, but he was a good leader none the less. And he was beating himself up over Shadow Stalker's behavior.

Nothing overt of course, he had done an admiral job of keeping locked up. But Dennis had put up enough fake smiles to know that he was eating himself up on the inside for not noticing Shadow Stalker's transgressions. There hadn't been anything that he could have done to begin with, even as the Ward Captain he still only had limited authority. Shadow Stalker's behavior was something that the adults had to deal with, but that didn't make him feel any less responsible. He would have to be sure to give Carlos a guy's night out some time to try and raise his spirits.

"Understood, Clockblocker out," he said, cutting the radio off. He gave Kid Win a quick glance to make sure he was prepared. A pair of Tinker-tech pistols were held in his hands, glowing with faintly yellow circuitry. They wouldn't cause any lasting damage, but he knew from experience that they _hurt._ "Ready?"

"Yeah," Kid Win replied, a hint of nervousness entering his tone. He couldn't blame his friend for that, they were about to enter a completely unknown situation. For all, they knew that could be Hookwolf around the corner. Clockblocker banished such thoughts from his mind as they cautiously made their way to the alleyway that the scream had come from. Despite the relatively pristine buildings surrounding it, the alleyway itself was just as dark and grimy as its shadier neighborhood cousins.

"See anything?" Clockblocker whispered. Kid Win's visor could see in low-level lighting far better than he could. At this point, he could only barely make out the back end of the alley. He could see some sort of indistinct shape, but he couldn't make out any defining details.

"Just give them a minute to adjust-AHH!" Kid Win's panicked scream echoed through the alley, nearly making Clockblocker jump out of his suit in surprise. The Tinker seemed to be in some sort of mind panic as he desperately tried to put some distance between himself and whatever he had seen.

"What?" Clockblocker muttered as the Tinker fell of his hoverboard in a blind panic, smacking into the ground with a thump. Frankly, it was a hilarious reaction, but Clockblocker didn't feel like laughing. Anything that could shock Chris like that wasn't something that he could joke about. As the Tinker rubbed his no doubt ringing head, Clockblocker turned back towards the shape, taking a few steps closer to get a better look. His breath left his lungs as his eyes finally adjusted to the low lever lighting and he could see what it was in all its horrible glory.

He was no stranger to dead bodies. He had lived in Brockton Bay long enough that he had seen more than his fair share, and his time as a Ward had only doubled that number. There was nothing like reporting into the aftermath of a fight and finding criminals and civilians alike dead because of a rampaging parahuman. He could still remember the sickening smell of burnt flesh as the blackened corpses of Lung's rampage stared back up at him with their deathly hollow eyes.

This was worse.

The lifelike flesh and still pooling blood indicated that the man had only recently died. He could see that his skin was already starting to lose some of its color as a pair of lifeless eyes stared out at the world. But that was all normal for a dead body, what was so bad was the condition that the corpse was in. The poor man looked like he had gone a few rounds with Hookwolf and then fed to a pack of rabid weasels.

Chunks of his skin were missing, the entire right side of his face looked like he had been carved apart with a blender. His legs had been pulped into sausages and didn't that form a nauseating image in his mind. The fact that there were what looked like teeth marks scattered around his body certainly didn't help to banish that mental image away. A thousand other things added up to a truly sickening display of gore and violence. The fact that it still looked like he might be alive only made it worse. With his previous bodies, they had all been dead long enough that there was a certain disconnect from a person to a corpse. But this was different. If that scream had been any indication he may have very well have been alive a few seconds ago. He might have tried to check for a pulse, but the man's ribcage had been torn open with his entrails scattered across the floor. The only reason that it was even sitting up was because someone had purposely propped it up next to the wooden fence that served as the end of the alley. No amount of chest compressions was going to help with _that_.

"Console, this is Clockblocker," he said, doing his best to keep the fear out of his voice. Whatever _thing_ had done this was not something that he wanted to fight. It looked like the man had been attacked by a rabid animal more than anything. He might have suspected Hellhound since she was the only animal controlling Master in the city, but this wasn't her usual M.O. And Quite frankly if she had done this then the man's body would have been broken in half. "We have a dead body."

"Is the assailant still there?" Aegis asked, a sharp note of concern entering his voice. He could faintly hear the sound to typing, no doubt Carlos alerting the Protectorate members on duty to the situation. Clockblocker felt a chill travel down his spine at the thought. His eyes flickered across the alleyway, looking for any sign of the perpetrator, but found nothing. That didn't mean anything though, a Stranger could stand right in front of you and slit your throat and you'd be none the wiser.

"I don't think so," he said, turning his head to glance over at Kid Win as he regained his footing. The Tinker shook his head to the unspoken question, clearly, even with his Tinker tech, he didn't see any signs of the perpetrator either. Clockblocker could practically hear the relief in Aegis' voice.

"Alright, just stay on the street, for now, Assault and Battery should be there in a few minutes, just don't go looking for whoever did this."

Clockblocker snorted, trying to ease his stress. "Yeah, because that was the first thought on our minds, let's go look for an insane mur—"

Clockblocker's sarcastic reply was cut off as something slammed into him with enough force to send him bowling over. He tried to stand his ground, but he might as well have been a marshmallow trying to stop a truck for all the good it did. He activated his power, letting it surge through him to literally freeze the assailant in its tracks, only to quickly find himself covered in gore and viscera. He could feel the bile threatening to erupt from his throat at the sight of the dead body glaring down at him like a puppet without strings. He cursed once he realized that by freezing the body he had inadvertently pinned himself on the ground. He would be stuck here until his power wore off, whether it was 30 seconds or 10 minutes.

A pained scream drew his attention away from his predicament as Chris' form went flying through the air. The Striker winced as his friend struck a post, rattling the very bones in his body. He could hear Aegis screeching in his earpiece for him to respond, but his arms were pinned in such a way that he couldn't reach the comms. All he could do was listen to Aegis' assurances that help was on the way and that all he needed to do was stay unharmed.

"Chris," he shouted, hoping that the Tinker would respond. But it looked like he had been dazed from the throw. If he had hit his head in the right place he could have a concussion, something that you didn't want when fighting an insane murderer. If Chris could get on the line and explain the situation to Aegis then Assault and Battery wouldn't be going in blind. But the Tinker was having enough trouble getting back up on his feet, much less explaining a complex and dynamic situation as concisely as possible.

A cold dread shook the Striker to his _bones_ as something very sharp clicked against the cool concrete. He tried to twist his head to get a better view, but the dead body was still frozen in time and remaining quite uncooperative. He could make out some sort of dark shape in the corner of his vision, but that wasn't nearly enough to make an identification. Even so, the hunched over appearance didn't look like the profile of anyone that he could name off the tip of his tongue.

"Freeze!" Kid Win shouted, apparently having retained enough of his wits to point his pistols at the attacker. The person froze, but not out of fear, instead, they paused their movement at an almost leisurely pace, as if they were amused by the whole situation. A laugh filled the air, like grinding metal on flesh.

 _I know that laugh,_ Clockblocker thought as he tried, futilely, to move the corpse off him. Not the voice of the laughter itself, that was too distorted by whatever modulator or power they were using. But the tone of the laugh was so familiar. He could feel an image of the attacker rising up from the darkest parts of his mind, struggling to regain that memory. It was a mocking and hateful laugh, filled with derision and contempt. As something very sharp scraped against the ground, drawing sparks from the concrete, Kid Win froze.

"Sophia?" The Tinker was barely able to get the question out of his mouth as he as the assailant leaped upon him. He fired his pistol, but it might have well have been a pebble trying to fell a boulder. The attacker grunted, but pushed on through the pain, charging towards the Tinker like a mad beast. A shrill scream erupted from Kid Win's lips as whatever weapon Sophia was using cracked through his armor like pieces of tinfoil.

"Kid!" Clockblocker screamed as his friend fell to the ground, clutching his now bleeding chest. He couldn't see how bad the wound was from this angle, but something that could tear through his armor like paper would rend flesh and bones with ease. The Tinker moaned in pain and Clockblocker let out a relieved sigh. At the very least he was alive for now.

He could feel his throat tighten as Sophia turned her attention towards him, and now that he could see her, he sincerely wished that he couldn't.

It was Sophia alright, there was no mistaking the predatory look in her dark eyes or the confident swagger of her steps. But quite frankly she looked like something that could give that Predator alien from the Aleph series nightmares. Her shoulders were somewhat hunched, most likely due to the plates of armor that now covered her shoulders along with other parts of her body. As she drew closer he could see that they were fused to her skin, flesh, and metal mixing together in an unnatural combination. The weapon that he had thought she had been holding was in fact attached to her hand, a blood-soaked blade that was about as long as his forearm. It looked like it was sharp enough to cut him just by looking at it. Her clawed feet clicked against the ground as she approached him, keeping just out of his reach to avoid his powers.

As he turned his head to stare at her face he could feel a chill travel down his spine at the sight of the dagger-like fangs that now filled her maw. Strings of flesh hung in the areas where her mouth would have normally stopped, but whatever had done this to her had stretched her mouth out to inhuman lengths. A dark chuckle filled the street as her dark and not quite sane eyes glared down at him as if he were a particularly irritating bug.

"Clockblocker," she hissed out through her misshapen teeth. It made her words somewhat difficult to understand, like trying to listen to a half-broken speaker. But there was no mistaking her tone. Her voice was cold and cruel and utterly uncaring. He had seen Neo-Nazis with less rage in their eyes.

"Sophia wha-" the Striker found himself cut off as Sophia growled, a deep and throaty thing that made the back of his hairs stand up on end. That was the noise of a hungry predator, and right now his instincts were screaming at him to run.

 _Anytime you want to turn off power,_ he thought as he tried to move the frozen body once more.

"Sophia was weak. She let herself be chained by you, by the Protectorate." She let out a soft and somewhat unhinged chuckle as she stared at her blood-soaked blade with a glint that made him extremely uncomfortable. "I suppose I should thank that loser Taylor for giving me this freedom – this **power**. I would have never realized how trapped I was by you, by everything. Oh, I'm still going to kill her, but she deserves to know how she freed me from the shackles you placed on Sophia."

 _Keep her talking,_ the part of his brain that wasn't gripped in primal fear whispered. If she was talking then she wasn't killing him, which presented a far greater chance for their survival. He could still hear Aegis assuring him that Assault and Battery were on the way and they only needed a minute more. He just had to keep her here until then. If he really needed to, he could freeze his suit and become utterly involatile to whatever she tried to do. But that had always been a defense only to be used as a last resort. Freezing himself meant that he would be stuck in place for however long his power lasted.

A bit difficult to get out of the danger zone when you couldn't move.

"So, if you're not Sophia…" he said, trailing off to give her control over the conversation. Sophia had always been rather domineering when it came to conversations, and he doubted that her recent mutations changed that. If he let her think she was in control she might be less likely to kill him.

"Who am I?" Sophia, or whatever she was calling herself in that jumbled mess she called a brain, seemed to relish the question as if it were a fine wine. "I'm Hunter in the dark, the one that slaughters you like the witless worms you are. I'm _Konihi_."

He didn't recognize the word, but it was menacing enough that he didn't think it would be anything good. His eyes widened behind his mask as Sophia raised her blade hand into the air, ready to slice his neck in two. Clockblocker struggled against the dead body one more time, but it was still frozen in time and utterly immovable. Even Alexandria herself wouldn't have been able to budge it an inch, much less a gangly teenager.

"Help!" His scream echoed throughout the street, but he didn't expect much from it in the first place. When someone cried for help in Brockton Bay the smartest thing to do was to run in the opposite direction. Only fools and heroes charged into danger. He could hear Chris' weak moans, but he wasn't going to be able to do anything. All he could do was watch in dread as Sophia raised her blade to its full length, almost doubling her height. Clockblocker wouldn't have been surprised if he needed some new pants. He readied his power to unleash itself on his costume at the last moment possible to give himself as much time as he could to escape her wrath.

"Bye-bye los—"

Whatever Sophia was going to say was cut off as a glowing blur slammed into her, sending her flying into the wall. A spider web of cracks erupted from her point of impact as she slumped to the ground. She was down, but she didn't look like she had had nearly enough to be out. Clockblocker looked up towards his rescuer and felt his relief course through his veins at the sight of Battery standing over him with a concerned look on her fact. The near blinding glow that signaled the use of her powers faded away as she lost her charge, but even then Clockblocker could feel joy swell up in his heart.

"I cannot begin to describe how happy I am to see you," Clockblocker said with a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" She asked, giving him a once over. Not that she could see much with the dead body in the way. She moved to pull the body off of him but scowled when it didn't move an inch.

"I'm fine, Kid needs medical attention," he said, foregoing his usual jokes. He didn't want to waste any more time than necessary with his friend's life on the line. The woman turned around toward Kid's prone form and jumped forward, very carefully moving the Tinker so she could get a better look at his injuries. Clockblocker had to wince at the blood seeping from the wound as Battery did her best to stem the tide. The pressure looked like it was helping, but Kid desperately needed medical attention. Battery bit back a curse, giving the slowly recovering Sophia a glance. He could practically hear the gears in her head turning as she considered the situation.

Two Wards down and one in critical condition with the attacker recovering with a speed that indicated a Brute rating. The fact that Sophia's spine hadn't shattered under Battery's impact was proof enough that she was far from the vanilla human that she had been before.

"Hey Puppy, how ar—" Assault trailed off as he approached the group, his expression slipping into something more neutral as he stared at the downed Kid Win. Clockblocker liked Assault. The man knew how to tell a good joke and have a fun time. But he would be lying if he didn't find Assault scary when he got serious.

"You need to take Kid to the hospital, I'll stay here until Clockblocker can free himself and get out of here," the growl in her voice clearly indicated that she wanted to deal with Sophia now, but the priority was taking care of Kid. There would be other chances to take Sophia in when one of the Wards wasn't in a life-threatening condition.

"Gotcha," Assault said, giving Sophia an eye as she slowly struggled back up. "Stay safe Puppy."

Battery gave him an affirmative grunt as he picked the barely conscience teen up in his arms and rushed off towards the closest hospital. Clockblocker watched as the Striker bounded down the street as a red blur, not nearly as fast as Velocity, but still far faster than any human could hope to run.

"Shadow Stalker stand down. If you come with us we can get you the help you need," Battery said with a hard look on her face. Clockblocker could see the way her muscles were tensed up, ready to spring forward at the slightest hint of provocation from Sophia. She seemed to be slowly inching her way towards Sophia to close the distance that she needed to be to strike without alerting the former Ward. The clearly unhinged parahuman let out a mocking laugh as if Battery had just told one of the most pathetic jokes she had ever heard.

"Help? Why would I want to give up my strength? No, help is _weakness_ , and only the strong survive," she said, a slightly insane crackle worming its way out of her throat.

"Shadow Stalker, whatever happened to you we can get you help, you just need to—" Battery pleaded, trying to appeal to whatever sensibilities she had left. But Sophia was having none of it, snarling in anger and rage.

"I'm not Shadow Stalker! She was weak! I'm strong," she growled through her impressively sharp teeth as a whirring noise filled the air. Clockblocker watched from his prison as part of Sophia's back seemed to unfold to rise above her. He could feel his stomach churn as ribbons of fresh flesh hung from the strange device. The center seemed to spin like a helicopter's blades as faint traces of black lightning sparked across the surface. He rapidly paled beneath his mask as she pointed the giant spinning blade of death towards his face.

Battery didn't bother saying another word, instead shooting forward with the speed of a woman possessed. Her body glowed so brightly in contrast to the darkness that Clockblocker could see spots forming in his eyes. Apparently, for Sophia, it was much worse, as she let out a pained howl and scrambled backward while she clutched her eyes.

But whatever might be said about Sophia, she knew how to fight. Despite being temporarily blinded she managed to dodge Battery's first strike. Brick cracked as the Protectorate heroine's fist struck the building instead of the parahuman. She bit back a curse as the glow of her power's charge faded. Sophia swung her blade arm out, howling like a mad beast as she tried to impale Battery. The older parahuman leaped back out of Sophia's range as the crackling sound started up again, the strange disk once more spinning at dizzying speeds. Clockblocker could feel the pit of dread building up in his stomach as she proceeded to aim it right at him.

"Stand down _now_!" Battery practically screamed, her exposed lips twisting in rage. She looked like she wanted to put Sophia's head through the wall, but her powers needed a few more seconds. The former Ward flinched, and for a brief moment he could see a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, but it was quickly swept aside by whatever madness had gripped her mind. Clockblocker pushed against the dead body one last time and grimaced as dead flesh slopped off onto his bo—

The Striker froze.

With a level of speed that could have qualified him for a Mover rating, the Ward scrambled out from under the now unfrozen body. He could hear his heart beating in his chest as Sophia let out a primal scream of rage. The whirring noise stopped, and the disk that had been charging up fired out straight towards his previous position. The disk struck the corpse and Clockblocker watched in horror as a blanket of darkness swallowed the body up and it disintegrated into nothingness.

 _That could have been me,_ he thought with no small amount of dread as he scrambled back onto his feet. Of course, if the body hadn't unfrozen he could have just frozen his own costume to protect himself from whatever Sophia had done, but that didn't negate the terror of the thought of being killed my one of his former teammates. Especially one that he had had a bit of a crush on.

Sophia howled in rage at the escape of her prey, but she had no time to push the attack as Battery was on her in an instant, her powers recharged once more. Clockblocker charged forward, arms outstretched to freeze the crazed parahuman in her place. But Sophia twisted out of the way, and the Striker skidded to a halt before he could slam into Battery and accidentally freeze her.

The Breaker hissed in frustration as she was forced to halt her forward momentum and jump back as her power's charge expired again. Sophia growled and lashed out with her clawed fingertips, trying to rip the older parahuman's throat out. Battery was able to dodge the haphazardly thrown blow easily enough, but she found herself quickly backpedaling as Sophia's blade came into play. With a reach that was much longer than the Breaker had expected she had no time to adjust herself as the blade came crashing down into her chest. Clockblocker could hear the grinding of metal on metal as the blade pierced through her armor just as it had with Kid's. There was a faint glow around her body as if she had tried to access her powers before they had fully charged, but there wasn't enough power to deflect the impact of the blade in any serious capacity.

"No!" he shouted, hand outstretched to tag Sophia. The crazed parahuman jumped back, crimson fluids glistening on her blade. But Clockblocker paid her no mind as he jumped for Battery, freezing the injured Breaker in place. The older woman's pained grimace froze in place as she became disconnected from the rest of time. It was hardly an ideal solution, but he could keep her from getting worse by freezing her in time until proper medical attention arrived.

Unfortunately, that also meant that he couldn't get more than a few feet away from her since his power's length was so uncertain. She could remain frozen for the next ten minutes, or she could unfreeze after the first thirty seconds. Which meant that he was stuck defending himself from Sophia until help arrived. He _could_ freeze his costume and then they would both be invulnerable, but if Battery unfroze first he wouldn't be able to help her again.

Sophia seemed to realize his predicament as she let out a blood-curdling laugh. "What's the matter Clockblocker? Running out of time?" Her mocking paused however as she tilted her head as if she was listening to something that only she could hear. Clockblocker was about to make a crack about listening to the voices in her head when she heard what she did.

The sound of PRT sirens. A swell of relief fell over Clockblocker at the high-pitched wailing that echoed through the streets. Sophia on the other hand, looked more than a little angry at being interrupted again. An irritated growl escaped Sophia's throat and he really couldn't help himself.

"What's the matter, running out of time?"

He could practically hear her fangs grinding against each other. For a second he feared that she might try to kill him regardless but apparently thought better of it.

"I'm going to kill you. All of you," Sophia said with such certainty that Clockblocker couldn't help but flinch a little. He had received death threats before, but they were always in the heat of the moment, a product born of anger and adrenaline. Sophia uttered her threat with such calmness that if felt more like she was stating a fact more than anything. A day ago, he would have laughed at the thought of Sophia trying to kill any Protectorate hero, but the sight of that body disintegrating before his very eyes filled him with dread.

"Tell Taylor that I'm coming for _her_ ," Sophia hissed as she stalked back into the shadows. Clockblocker lost sight of her as she climbed over the alleyway back in a display of athleticism that was impressive given that only one of her hands had usable fingers anymore.

The sound of a sharp ragged breath was all the motivation that Clockblocker needed to let his power surge through his hands once more. Battery stilled once again, her face contorted into a grimace of agony. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, keeping watch over the Protectorate hero, but his muscles sagged in relief when the PRT emergency response vehicle pulled up. At the very least he wouldn't be in this alone anymore.

* * *

Clockblocker let out a relieved sigh as Battery was carted through the hospital doors, surgeons already at the ready to save the heroine. The young Striker took a seat on one of the benches as he tried to ignore the stares and whispers coming from excited civilians. The journey to the hospital had been fraught with heart-pounding terror as he had done his best to keep Battery frozen and stable. The only issue had been that in order to move her they had to wait until she had unfrozen, and while they had done their best with the basic medical supplies at hand, she had lost a good amount of blood during the transfers.

"Clocky!"

Clockblocker looked up to see Assault's bright red costume. The man was smiling, but it was brittle and forced, the sign of a man holding back a swell of negative emotions.

"Is Kid okay?" Clockblocker asked, his concern for his friend's wellbeing coming to the forefront. Assault's expression twisted into a grimace.

"He's in intensive care right now. They said they managed to stem the bleeding and stabilize him, but he's still at risk. I think they're trying to call Panacea and have her come down and take a look at it."

Clockblocker did feel somewhat relieved at the mention of Panacea. He was still scared stiff that Chris had to be in surgery at all, but as long as they could keep him alive until Panacea got there he would be okay. He had to wonder what this was like for heroes in other cities who _didn't_ have the benefit of being able to call upon the assistance of a healer.

"So, where's Puppy?" Assault asked, making a show of looking around the room. Clockblocker froze as if he had struck himself with his own power. A chill traveled down the teen's spine at the thought of having to explain to Assault where his wife was and how she had gotten into that position.

 _Well, Sophia, I'd say it was nice knowing you, but that would be a lie._

* * *

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